An unexpected twist in life
by laughingoutloud1234567
Summary: Hannah Roberts is a young girl that lives a wealthy life. Suddenly her life takes a twist as she finds herself becoming friends with a group of criminals and falling for a certain pickpocket
1. Chapter 1

**Hello Everyone! this is my first fanfic so everyone go easy me please. Just so you get a proper image of Dodger in this story, i am using the Dodger from the Oliver twist movie 2005. As well as the other characters. I hope you enjoy the story :D**

**Definitions**

**Nipper - **pickpocket

**Chowderhead - **stupid, idiot, dumb

**Cravats - **a necktie

**Wipes** - Handkerchief

...

It was a warm, sunny day in London in the year 1835. There were people crowded all on the streets, enjoying the warm day. Among the crowd of people was a young girl trying to get to the bookstore to get some books for her father. She was wearing a pretty lavender and white dress, with a light hat on top of her head. Her blonde wavy hair went just past her shoulders. She put her hand over her eyes, to protect her shocking light blue eyes from the sun. She was carrying a basket over her left arm.

Her eyes roamed the street to look for the shop, when she found her destination she crossed the street, a little bell ringing as she entered the bookshop. The bookkeeper that was also one of her best friends turned to see who walked in and smiled at his visitor. " Miss Roberts! My favourite customer, how good to see you dear" he said and walked over to her to give her a light hug. She chuckled " How many times have I told you Ernie to call me by my first name" she said. He smiled and rubbed his chin " Maybe around a hundred times miss, maybe more". " well make sure you remember this time" she laughed and wandered around the bookshop

" certainly Hannah" he smiled. " Which book are you looking for today?" he asked, following her around the store." I don't really know, my father gave me this note to give to you with a list of books in it, he also wanted me to give you this other note along with it. He made me swear not to read it" she said and handed him the notes from her father. " and did you keep your promise? Did you not read it?" he asked while taking the notes from her hand. She shrugged " I didn't read it".

that was a lie, Hannah did read it and Ernie could see that she was lying " We will keep that a secret between us" he said and smiled, then he walked over to a bookshelf to look for the books that was written in the note. Hannah wandered around the bookshelves. She didn't know why her father didn't want her to read it, she didn't really understand what it was anyway, it sounded more like a secret message than a regular note, using nicknames and weird words. She ran her finger over the bookshelves and stopped at one she liked, **Jane Eyre**, she loved that book. She grabbed it from the shelf and brought it to the front of the store.

Ernie was waiting behind the counter. She paid for the books, and he handed her the ones for her father.

" Thank you Ernie, I will be back to visit soon" she said, and placed the books in her basket.

" Goodbye Miss Roberts!" he said and smiled when she turned to glare at him.

She roamed around the streets swinging the basket in her arms, it was a beautiful day, unlike most of the days that they had, which were gray and gloomy. She walked over the London Bridge and saw a group of girls hanging about. One of then saw her and ran towards her. It was her best friend Marie. Her long dark curls bounced behind her as she ran.

" Hannah! We were just at your house, but your father said you went out, we were hoping if you wanted to go to the shops with us and then to the park" She said, her large brown eyes staring at Hannah in hope.

Hannah looked toward the small group of girls that were waving at her and waiting for her to come join them.

She sighed " Look, I can't right now, I have to get these books back to my dad and then I promised to help Edna around the house".

Marie's hopeful face dropped " Please come, I can't go without my best friend, and anyway Grace said that she was going to introduce us to some boys that she met in town" she said giggling.

Hannah laughed " I promise I will come next time" she said. Marie pouted and put her hands on her hips

" Sometimes you're such a bore" she said. Hannah laughed again and flicked Marie's nose, which she hated

" Don't pout, I will be free tomorrow, we will go for a walk after lunch okay?"

Marie silently shrieked and cupped her nose, she wagged her finger at Hannah " Fine, fine, but if you break that promise, I will have to come after you Hannah Roberts and it won't be pretty" she said and began to walk back towards the group of girls. " It's a promise!" Hannah shouted after her.

Hannah walked past the group of girls and waved at them, then started her journey home. She slowed down her pace, admiring the look of her neighborhood, the purple flowers, the young couples walking side by side. She reached the front door of her large white house, and walked inside.

" I'm home!" she called out. At once, Edna, the 50 year old maid came rushing down the large staircase

" Miss Hannah were have you been!" she said " you were out all afternoon! I was ready to call the police"

Hannah chuckled " I'm fine, I was just enjoying the moments of this beautiful day, it's been awhile since we had one"

Edna put her hand on her hips " never the less, I was worried sick"

Hannah smiled, ever since losing her mother at the age of 2, Edna had always been a mother to her, and it made Hannah feel good that she cared so much for her.

Hannah smothered her in a hug and kissed her cheek to get her to stop speaking " Stop worrying, I'm fine, our neighborhood is very safe"

Edna huffed " Yes but some of those scraggly poor people, especially the boys, would see a pretty young wealthy girl walking along the street and would love to snatch her right up"

" Shush" Hannah said " I'm home, I'm going to give these books to father, I will be back soon to help you around the house" then she skipped off.

Her father was sitting in his study writing a letter " Hello father" she said and kissed his cheek.

" Hannah dear, you're home! Did you get the things from Ernie?" he asked, she reached into her basket and gave him the books

" Ah, that's a good girl, thank you for doing that for me" he said and smiled warmly up at her.

" Anytime father" she said, and walked out of the room. She walked outside to look for Edna, who was hanging up the laundry.

Hannah grabbed one of her fathers shirts and hung it up " Edna, have you ever met my mother?" she asked.

Edna's face softened " Yes I have dear, and what a pretty and sweet thing she was. Always kind to everyone, even the beggars on the street, you look just like her as well, same blonde hair, same facial features, soft skin, big blue eyes, you two are almost identical"

Hannah grinned, " do you have any good stories about her that you can tell me?" she asked. Edna stopped hanging up clothes to think. " I do remember one time, she was pregnant with you, and she was helping me hang laundry up, just like you do" Edna smiled " and I went inside to get us some water, and when I came back out, she was fast asleep on the chair, and all the clothes that were hanging up were gone" she aughed.

" What happened?" Hannah asked. Edna laughed " Well when she fell asleep, a few pickpockets, walked over, and seeing as she was asleep took all the clothes" she said and wiped a tear from her eye " You should of seen the look on her face, she was so sorry and thought I would get angry, but I thought it was quite funny" she stated.

Hannah laughed " too bad about the clothes though"

Edna smiled " Well your mother did say that she was upset that they took someone else's property, but she was also happy that some needy had new clothes to walk around in"

Edna picked up the empty laundry basket and walked over to Hannah, she placed her hand on her cheek

" You my dear, are such a blessed child, beautiful, kind, not many people help their maid with chores around the house" she said and chuckled. Hannah laughed " Edna your part of our family"

" you see!" she stated " not many people have a heart like you do, and if you keep on going like this, something great is going to happen to you one day, and your going to be one of the happiest girls on earth" she said and kissed her cheek.

Hannah smiled " do you have anymore stories about my mother?" she asked. Edna shook her head sadly

" I don't dear, but why don't you ask your father?" she suggested. Hannah huffed and sat on the stool " he doesn't like to talk about her, I have tried, but he always changes the subject" she said

Edna sighed and shook her head " your father is like a window with the shutters closed, he doesn't like to open up to anybody, he's just hurting Hannah, more than you think, he loved you mother more than anyone on earth"

" But why won't he open up to me? Doesn't he love me enough to open up to me?" she said.

" My gods, he loves you more than anyone, he loves you more than you think, he is afraid to cry in front of you, to make you sad, he knows how much you look like her and it hurts him, I've seen him catch himself from calling you her name, you never noticed, but I have. He cares so much about you Hannah and don't you forget that" she said.

Hannah smiled at her " thank you Edna" she said. Edna smiled back " yes, yes, now go upstairs and read or practice your stitching" she said, and swatted her arm to get her moving. Hannah laughed and ran into the house to her room, Hannah jumped on her bed and sighed,

At the age of 2 her mother went out to get some food, she and her father waited up all night for her, as her father was about to call the police, they showed up at the door. Hannah's mother was murdered. A man a little younger than her mother was did it. She wouldn't give him her wallet, so he murdered her. It tore her father's heart, he never told Hannah about the name of the man, but she saw his face on all the wanted posters, he was scary looking. That's why she was able to understand why her family was so protective of her. She was sad that she was hurting her father because of her looks, but at least he loved her.

She took out her book and began to read. Halfway through the book, her eyes began to close and she drifted into a deep sleep.

…..

Hannah woke up to birds chirping she slowly sat up in her bed, she looked down and saw that she was wearing her nightgown, did she change into it before she went to sleep? She couldn't remember.

She heard a knock on her door, she jumped out of bed " Just a second Edna!" she yelled through the door.

" Wake up lazy bones! Its not Edna!" Marie's voice shouted through the door. " Wait till I'm changed Marie" Hannah yelled through the door.

Marie ignored her " Naked or not, I'm coming in" she yelled, and burst through her door. She smiled at Hannah, who looked annoyed

"Hello" she said and walked over to Hannah's bed, placing her basket on the floor and sitting herself on the bed.

" I thought we were getting together after lunch" Hannah said, as she began to take of her night clothes. Marie rolled her eyes " well considering you ditched me yesterday, I decided that we are going to spend the whole day together" she smiled mischievously. Hannah rolled her eyes " how annoying you can be sometimes Marie, to wake someone up from her sleep"

Marie huffed " quit lying, you were awake, I know you were cause you weren't snoring, and you snore in your sleep". Hannah turned to her, " I do not!" she said. Marie smirked " oh yes you do, everyone knows"

Hannah's face grew red from embarrassment " I never knew that" she said, " how awful"

Marie laughed " its not too bad, sometimes it can get pretty loud but—" Hannah slapped her " enough, I don't want to hear anymore about me snoring"

Marie laughed again and waited for her to change " wear the light blue dress Hannah, I love that one on you" she said.

Hannah went to her wardrobe to pick up the dress, " could you help me tie my corset please" she said.

She waited as Marie tightly pulled the strings together, how she hated wearing it, she saw no need for it and it only made her feel burning hot and stuffy. Then she pulled the dress over her head, did her hair, put on a little bit of makeup, grabbed her basket, and grabbed her mothers handkerchief that she always kept with her and stuffed it in her pocket, then they headed downstairs.

Marie and Hannah sat down at the table. Edna came with their breakfast " Good morning dears, how was your sleep?"

Hannah snarled " it would have been better if I didn't have a snobby friend to burst into my room to wake me up"

" ouch your grumpy in the morning Hannah, and I told you to quit lying, you were awake" Marie said and smirked. She turned to Edna " How are you Edna?" she asked. " Quite well dear, quite well, where are you two planning to go today?" Edna asked.

" Just out" Hannah said. " To the shops, maybe to see friends"

" Well you be careful now" Edna said. " Always am" Hannah said, and finished her last bite of toast.

She and Marie thanked Edna for the breakfast, packed themselves a small lunch in their baskets and went to the living room, where her father was sitting reading the paper, he lowered it when they approached

"where are you two going?" he asked. " We are just going to spend the day outside father, I will see you at dinner" she said and kissed him on the cheek. " You be careful now" he said. Hannah laughed " your starting to sound like Edna" she said, and headed out the door, with her father chuckling after them.

Marie looped her arm through Hannah's as they walked around town, " remember when I told you that Grace was going to introduce us to some boys yesterday?" she said.

" you mentioned it" Hannah sighed.

" Well, you missed out on a lot, they were really cute, and one of them even asked about you" she said. Hannah stopped walking " who asked for me?" she said. Marie giggled

" Hugh did" she said and giggled some more. " Hugh Calvin?" Hannah asked. Marie nodded and giggled again, Hannah flicked her on the nose, Marie shrieked " I wish you would stop doing that, one day I will stomp on your toe"

Hannah huffed "stop giggling, there is nothing to giggle about, he is not that cute"

Marie looked at her in horror " not that cute? Not that cute!, Hannah he is gorgeous, and top grades too, he is a keeper I think"

Hannah rolled her eyes "He also likes to get it on with the women, don't you notice anything?" she asked. Marie huffed and changed the subject, lets look at the paintings she said and grabbed Hannah's hand to pull her over to the paintings laying out on a table by a shop.

" oooooh I love this one!" Marie said and held up a painting of a man and women dancing, she wore bright colours on her dress and the scene around them was quite beautiful, but Hannah had her eye on another painting, it was a painting of a flower. Hannah thought every single colour that was ever made was painted into the flower, it was beautiful. "May I have this please" Hannah asked the man selling them. He smiled at her " certainly, its 3 shillings", she handed him the money, and placed the painting in the basket, she walked back over to Marie and leaned over to see what she was looking at.

Then she felt it, the slightest movement from her pocket, any person who wasn't paying attention wouldn't of felt it, but she did. She whipped around and saw a boy around her age, he was wearing dark pants, a green jacket and a hat, and in his hand was her mother's handkerchief, his eyes went wide when he saw her and then he smirked and ran off.

" Hey you!" Hannah yelled, "you come back here right now!" She lifted up her dress and ran after the boy, she heard her name being called but she didn't care, she wasn't going to lose the only thing she had left of her mother, the boy turned and looked suprised that she was running after him, so he ran faster. Hannah ran faster as well, she tried her best to catch up with him, she got looks from people when she passed, as she was a lady, and ladies were not suppose to be running after dirty boys, but she had to catch him, she needed that handkerchief back.

But soon she got tired, her stupid corset was too tight, she sat on a barrel to catch her breath, tears in her eyes, she lost the only thing she had of her mother, all because of that stupid boy, she should of never brought it with her.

Slowly she made her way back to the store, where she hoped Marie was waiting for her. Half way there, she found Marie walking along the path where she ran, she was scanning the crowed for her, when she saw Hannah she briskly walked up to her and grabbed her hand " Hannah, what happened? That was dangerous, he could have really hurt you!" she said.

Hannah didn't care, tears in her eyes, she whispered " he took it Marie, he took my mothers handkerchief!"

Marie immediately understood and hugged her. " I'm so sorry, maybe your father has more of them?"

Hannah shook her head "no, that was the only one, the only thing left of her, my father gave it to me when I was small and I always brought it everywhere with me, and now its gone!"

Marie just looked at her sadly. She linked her arm through hers " come on, let's go to the park and have some lunch, you must be starving"

Hannah allowed Marie to lead her through the crowd, she was only tying to help after all, even though she knew perfectly well that it wouldn't.

They sat in the soft grass and ate their sandwiches and pie. Marie touched Hannah's arm " is there anything I can do?" she asked.

Hannah shook her head " thanks anyway, but nothing can really help this" suddenly they heard their names being called out and they turned to see their friends Grace and Helen walking towards them and they were accompanied by 3 boys.

Marie huffed and put her hands on her waist " that Grace, she just can't get enough of those boys"

Hannah was too sulky to agree. When they reached them, they sat in the grass beside them. Grace smiled at Hannah and kissed her cheek " Hannah, I'm sorry you couldn't come out with us yesterday, but I would like to introduce you to our 3 new friends, Simon, Edward and you already know Hugh" she said and giggled.

Hannah sighed "my pleasure" she said. Hugh grabbed her hand to kiss it " the pleasure is all mine Miss Roberts" he smiled.

" Just Hannah please" she said. Hannah looked around at all the boys, she could see why Grace liked them, they were all good looking, and she couldn't help but feel embarrassed when they looked at her, she must have been a sight, all red, puffy eyed and sweaty.

"Hannah why are you so mopey?" Grace asked

" Don't ask questions Grace, some pickpockets stole her favourite handkerchief" Marie said.

Everyone looked at her sympathetically " those nippers sure are buggers" Simon said. Helen swatted him and shrieked " Simon, don't say such language!" but she giggled none less. Hannah could care less if he swore, cause at that moment, if she wasn't a lady, she would have been saying those exact same things. And worse.

Hugh looked at her sadly " would you like me to buy you a new one?" he asked. Hannah smiled at him

" Thank you for being so considerate but there is no need" she said.

" But why are you all sweaty and dirty?" Helen asked and gave her a face. If she weren't so sad and tired, Hannah would have punched her.

" I chased after him" she said calmly. Grace and Helen shrieked. Edward and Simon gave Hannah a funny look. Hugh on the other hand looked amazed,

" you did what!" Helen said. " You can't do that Hannah, you're a lady, people would of looked at you funny" she said. Marie glared at her.

" I don't really care" Hannah said evenly.

"I think that's amazing, its good that she didn't let him get away with it, not many girls do that" Hugh said and grinned at her. Hannah once again smiled at him, he was being very kind.

Grace looked a bit annoyed, Marie on the other hand looked amused, Hannah just wanted them to leave.

Grace suddenly stood up " Come on Helen, boys, I am ready to go" she said. Helen stood up, as did Simon and Edward. Hugh though stayed seated on the ground " Well maybe I would like to sit here and talk to these ladies" he said. Marie and Hannah smiled at him.

" That would be nice, but we are going anyway too" Marie said sensing that Hannah wanted them gone. Hannah looked at her gratefully. Hugh looked disappointed and Hannah couldn't help but feel sorry for him that he was stuck with Helen and Grace. He helped her and Marie off of the ground and kissed both their hands, his lips on Hannah's hand longer than Marie's.

" I hope to see you ladies soon, and remember Hannah, if you need anything or want a new handkerchief, don't be afraid to come looking for me" he said and smiled. She smiled at him " goodbye Hugh it was nice seeing you and it was nice meeting you two" she said and looked over to Simon and Edward who smiled and waved.

Hugh waved at them again and walked away. " I told you he likes you" Marie whispered in Hannah's ear.

Hannah rolled her eyes " ugh, she's back to her regular self again, and right when I thought you were going to be different and not boy crazy for a day" she laughed. Marie chuckled " Hannah Roberts I am appalled, I thought you would have been use to me by now" She said and laughed " Besides, I am not as boy crazy as those two bird brains over there"

Hannah grimaced " true, true"

Marie grabbed her hand " Come on, lets go get some ice cream and then I will walk you home" She said.

So off they went to the ice-cream shop, Marie treated Hannah and after their ice cream, Marie made Hannah go into a few more clothing shops before she was ready to go home.

" Are we done now?" Hannah said annoyed. Maried pouted at her " sheesh, be a girl for once and learn how to shop" she said. Hannah flicked her nose " don't pout, you look like a baby, and I am a girl you silly, I just don't like to waste my whole day buying clothes"

Marie grabbed her nose, and then stomped on Hannah's foot, she tried not to wince, but Marie was a good stomper. Marie wagged her finger at her " I told you, next time you flicked me, I would stomp on you foot, now come on, I will walk you home"

" No no, I want to walk you home today, you always walk me home" Hannah said. Marie raised an eyebrow "are you sure? Your promise me that you won't go looking for that boy?"

" Yes, yes, I promise" she said and linked her arm through Marie's. On their way home, Hannah barely listened as Marie was talking, the thing was, that the reason why Hannah wanted to walk home on her own, is because she wanted to think and enjoy the walk on her by herself, she hadn't even thought about looking for the boy. But now Marie put the idea inside her head, and she wondered if she should go looking for him.

Marie kissed her cheek as she walked up the steps to her large white house " remember you promised" she yelled as she walked into her house. Ava just waved not really hearing what she was saying.

And she had to admit, she wasn't really going to go looking for him, she was just thinking it, but next think she knew she was walking toward the store where the boy took the handkerchief from her and she walked up the path where she chased him. But she tried to remember to keep a mental note of the way she was going so she wouldn't get lost. She kept asking people if they have seen him, but they either shook their heads or just ignored her.

She kept walking, she would not stop until she found him. But soon she realized that it was getting dark, she looked up at the sky to try to figure out what time it was, surely Edna would begin to worry, she would go home now, and spend all day tomorrow looking for the boy, he would be sorry if she caught him on the street.

She turned to go, and walked in the direction, from which she came, soon it began to get much darker and she quickened her pace, but she felt like she was walking forever, everything seemed much different in the dark, she tried to ask a few women, but the directions they gave her were always wrong, or maybe she was mixed up.

Now it was fully dark, a few lights on the streets were lit. She heard men and women singing and a few men in the corner of an alley were drinking and smoking. Then he realized that she was in a completely different part of town, the parts where all the poor people lived, pickpockets, drunks, and prostitutes. She slowly began to panic, she kept walking and walking.

Soon her feet grew tired, she sat down to rest, and to think. Edna was mostly likely having a heart attack, would her father be worried, would he of sent for the police? Edna told her not to think twice about her fathers love for her.. Wait why was she thinking of her fathers love, she should be worrying about how to get out of this place.

" Ain't it a little late for a pretty girl like you to be out here all alone?" said a voice behind her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

She jumped up and whipped around. A boy around her age, leaned against a wall behind her, his hands were stuffed in his pockets. She couldn't really tell what he was wearing, but only saw that he wore a very long coat and was wearing a top hat on top of his head, she couldn't see his face too well. But she could tell that by the way he was standing there, that he had been watching her for a while, how long had she been sitting there?

" You leave me alone" she said and turned to walk away, but he stepped in front of her. " What's your name?" he asked. She huffed and put her hands on her hips " that is none of your business, now please leave me alone" she tried to walk away from him again, but he blocked her path " are you lost?" he asked.

" No, I am looking for my father, he is around here somewhere and if he catches you, he will cut your head off" she threatened, and tried to walk past him again. He smirked clearly amused " nice try, you're an awful liar you know that?"

She huffed at him " So what if I am lost, what does it matter to you?". He smirked again " well you are obviously to dumb to get it" he said, she glared at him.

He grinned "you're here all alone, no one to protect you" he said as he stepped closer to her, she was starting to feel frightened, he smirked " and here I am, I could do anything I want to you right now, before you even have time to scream" he said.

She opened her mouth to scream, but he quickly covered it with his hand, he leered at her " don't try that on me" he said " I am way to quick for you" she glared at him menacingly, trying not to show how scared she was. He smirked "now if I remove my hand from your pretty mouth, do you promise not to scream?"

She didn't answer right away, so he backed her against a wall and stepped even closer to her, tears were starting to form on her eyes "do you promise" he whispered. She nodded. He slowly released his hand from her mouth.

" Please leave me alone" she croaked trying not to cry, though a few stray tears were running down her face.

" Stop crying" he said in a low growl, wiping the tears from her cheeks. He looked her up and down " do you need a place to sleep tonight?" he asked. She tried to push him away from her, suddenly angry " Not with you, if that's what you were planning" she snarled. He smiled and shook his head " Well though I would prefer it, I meant at my place, its not just me, a couple of people are there"

she hesitated " can't you just show me the way out". He shrugged " honestly I don't even know the way out from here"

She sighed, it looked like she had no choice " oh all right, but only if you promise you won't try anything" she said. He put his hand up in surrender "I promise, now follow me"

He grabbed her hand and led her through the alleyway, she passed many people kissing on stairs and was hoping that, that wasn't what he had in mind. Soon he led her up some stairs and to an old door. He knocked on it, she heard a voice on the other side " who is it?",

" Its Dodger" he said, and immediately the door swung open and he led her inside. She thought that Dodger was a very peculiar name for a boy but didn't say anything.

He led her up the stairs where a group of boys were sitting either playing cards, smoking or just talking. Her face went pale, all these boys, she was going to be sharing a room with a bunch of boys. Soon the room went quiet as they spotted her. They all stared at her, not knowing what to think. Dodger led her through the crowed to a stove where an old man was kneeled over. " Hey Fagin, I brought someone with me tonight" he said. The old man turned around. He had a scraggly beard, he was hunched over and wore a long green coat. He smiled at her, he hardly had any teeth at all " Well hello my dear, what is your name?"

She hesitated " Hannah Roberts" she said. He smiled at her again " Such a pretty name, it fits such a pretty girl" she blushed and did a small smile, it was very quiet, she knew that everyone in the room was watching her.

" Hey what's going on in here?" said a voice, to Hannah's her relief it was a female voice. She sighed when a woman walked into the room, the woman stared wide eyed at her and rushed over to her, and she slapped the hat off of Dodger who bent down to pick it up.

" Dodger what did you do to this poor girl, she is as pale as a ghost" the woman said and touched Hannah's face.

Dodger snorted " why do you think I did something too her, she was just lost that's all, I was just being a gent and asked her if she wanted a place to sleep that's all" he said. Hannah glared at him as did the woman beside her " Oh yeah, I'm sure that's the reason for bringing her here, just to be nice" the lady said sarcastically.

Dodger just smirked and winked at Hannah. Now that there was light, she could really see what he looked like, and she knew right off the bat, that if Marie was here, she would of thought he was very good-looking, too bad his personality didn't fit, or Hannah would of also thought he wasn't so bad. He had dark brown hair and dark eyes, his long coat was brown and wore an old vest with a cravat around his neck underneith. He also wore black trousers, and his outfit was finshed with a tophat, he turned to join his friends. All the boys still sat there staring at her. Her eyes lay on a boy in the corner sitting all by him self , he looked to be around 11 or 12, he smiled kindly at her,

" I'm Nancy" the women said kindly, she wore a red dress that showed off her cleavage and had dark curly red hair " The one that brought you here, that's Dodger, I hope he didn't do anything a bit to rash to you" she said. Hannah didn't say anything, she just stared at the lady, and she was so gratefully that words couldn't describe it. She just smiled up at her.

Then Hannah turned to look at all the boys, there were about 7 of them all staring at her. But one boy caught her eye. He was the one that let them in, and he looked awfully familiar, and then she realized it was the boy that took her handkerchief! She gasped and marched over to the boy, everyone stared at her. She pushed him to the ground

" What the—" he began, but Hannah cut him off " you're the boy that I have been looking for all day! You give me back my handkerchief you little git!" she yelled. The boy finally realized who she was and his eyes went wide.

A few of the boys began to snicker as they watched their friend get sacked. He stood up calmly and brushed off his coat " I don't have it" he said and smiled.

Hannah was angry " give it back or I will hurt you! That handkerchief was special to me, now give it back!" She yelled

He smirked " like I said, I don't have –" he was cut off when Hannah tackled him, she shook him by the collar " give it back! I will give you one last warning!"

He was struggling, trying to get her off him, she felt two pairs of arms lift her off of him. Fagin went to help him up.

" I swear if you don't give it back, I will hurt you in your sleep! Your not as sneaky as your think you are, I know you have it! If you think that you're such a good pickpocket then you would have gotten away with taken my handkerchief without my noticing you git!"

She heard a snicker behind her, and finally realized who was holding her back, Nancy held her one arm while trying to calm her down, and Dodger was holding her other arm, and tying his best not to laugh.

" Give her the handkerchief Charlie" Nancy said glaring at him. Charlie shrugged " I'm telling you I don't have it!" he said loudly.

" Just give it up Charlie and give her the hanky back" Dodger said trying to suppress his laughter. Charlie's shoulders sagged and he sighed a pulled her mothers handkerchief out of his pocket. She broke free from the arms of the people holding her and ran toward the boy named Charlie, she grabbed the handkerchief from his hand and held it tightly in her arms, Charlie stared at her and sighed " women and their wipes, I will never understand" he said

Hannah glared at him. Then Fagin walked up to Charlie and pushed him down. Charlie looked angry

" What was that for!" he yelled. Fagin calmly walked away " for getting caught" he said and walked back to the stove. Charlie got back up and began to dust off his clothes, when Dodger walked up to him and pushed him back down on the floor, Charlie looked like he was about to kill " What the hell!" he screamed "what did I do to deserve that?"

Dodger just smirked " for getting caught by a girl" he said. The whole room burst out laughing and Charlie blushed and got up, he leaned against the wall, away from everyone.

Hannah still cradled the hanky in her hand, she looked up to catch Dodger staring at her, clearly impressed that she was able to get the hanky back.

Nancy came over to her and put her hands on her shoulders.

" I think its getting a little late, and you seem exaughsted" Hannah nodded gratefully, Nancy led her to her room, the walls in the room were torn and holey, there was a mattress with a couple of blankets over it. She looked at Hannah " I know it's not much but will it do?" she asked. Hannah nodded " yes, its perfect, thank you so much for everything Nancy" she said. Nancy smiled warmly at her " if you need anything just call and I will be right over, I will stay over tonight, just for you"

Hannah thanked her again, and was left to her quiet space, just as she was about to get into bed, the door slowly opened. She groaned silently when Dodger walked in.

" All comfortable?" he asked and smirked. She rolled her eyes " yes I am, thank you" she said.

He walked over " you know, if you need to be more comfortable, I would be happy to help" he said and smirked again.

Hannah stood up and placed her hands on her hips and huffed. " I am not going to sleep with you" she said.

He pouted and she couldn't help but laugh "save it for another girl on the street"

He ignored her comment and stared at her "are you sure it's not going to be too cold? Because if it is, body heat is the best, so I've heard"

Hannah snorted " don't be a chowderhead, where did you hear that?"

He shrugged "just places"

He started to take off his jacket. She stared at him " What are you doing?" she asked.

He smiled " just in case if it does get too cold, take my jacket" he said as he handed it to her, she tried to push it back " No, no, its yours, what if you get to cold in the night? I don't want to make you suffer" she said.

He stared at her and shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts, he pushed it back in her hand, " take it, I don't sleep with a top on anyway, so its useless to me"

She stared at him, then accepted the jacket " thank you" she whispered, he just nodded. Then something else popped in her mind. " Is your real name Dodger?" she asked.

He looked at her " Dodger is short form for Artful Dodger, but it's kind of like my nickname"

" Well then what's your real name?"

" Jack Dawkins" he said and crossed his arms.

" Well, its nice to meet you Jack, and thank you for helping me tonight" she said, again he just nodded and mumbled something, Hannah didn't ask what he said.

She sat on her mattress and took the hanky out from her pocket and admired it, she couldn't describe how happy she was to have it back.

Dodger walked closer to her and inspected the handkerchief " what's with you and this hanky?" he asked.

She scoffed at him " My father gave it to me on my 5th birthday, It was my mothers" she said. He suddenly blushed, not knowing what to say and turned facing the wall " I'm sorry" he mumbled.

" Thanks" she whispered, staring at him. " Don't you have any parents?" she asked.

Dodger faced her " I don't know, all I remember is Fagin finding me and that's all, but if I did have parents I am fine without them, I don't need rules and chores, I'm perfectly fine on my own" he said.

She stared at him and shook her head " I don't understand how someone wouldn't want parents"

He glared " I don't, and there is nothing to understand, so lets drop the subject and move on"

She stared at him

" Quit staring at me" he said. She didn't stop staring at him

He turned to leave, but she stopped him " Hey Dodger! Who was that little boy in the corner? He was a little younger than us and small and thin"

He stopped to think " I think your talking about Oliver Twist, I found him in the street a couple of days ago and brought him here just like you"

She snorted " is that what you do for a living, finding kids in the street and kidnapping them"

He smirked " yes, I'm kind of known for it"

She smiled at him, and he turned to leave again. " Remember, if you need company or need to be kept warm, just let me know" he said with a wink

Hannah snorted again " thanks for the offer, but I will pass"

He smiled and opened the door. " Goodnight Jack!" she said.

He froze halfway walking out the door, surprised that someone had called him by his first name.

" Goodnight" he whispered, and smiled to himself as he walked out.

As Dodger walked to his room, he thought about the girl. She was very pretty, witty and it shocked him how kind she was, he never met a wealthy person that was so kind to him. Most of them shooed people like him away, well he couldn't blame wealthy people for hating him either, he did steal their wallets, watches and wipes. He was actually very impressed with the way she stood up to Charlie earlier, he admired that.

When he got to his bedroom his took of his shirt and shoes and laid in bed, _no one is going to have her_, he thought to himself, _she is mine._

And with that he drifted off to sleep


	2. Chapter 2

Hannah woke up to clattering in the next room, she slowly stood up and rubbed her eyes so they could get use to the morning sun. She checked her basket to make sure no one else stole from her, the painting was still in her basket, as was her book. _Good_. She thought _maybe I can trust these people. _She stood up and smoothed out her dress and hair, then walked out of the room.

To her surprise, there were only three people there. Fagin, the boy Dodger said was Oliver, and Nancy.

Where was everyone? Nancy was washing dishes and when she saw Hannah she smiled. " Hannah dear! How was your sleep?"

Hannah smiled " very well actually, I was very comfortable" Nancy smiled and continued washing dishes.

Fagin walked over to Hannah " I am glad you had a good sleep my dear, the other boys will be arriving soon, they just went out to get us some breakfast" Hannah nodded.

She went over to where Oliver was sitting " Hello" she said and smiled. He looked up at her with bright eyes and stood up from his seat " Would you like a seat Miss Hannah?" he asked. Hannah stared at him, she never met such a kind boy before. " Thank you very much Oliver" she said and sat down, he sat down next to her.

She looked at him " you're a regular gent, you are" she whispered to him and smiled " you're very kind and considerate Oliver, different from the rest of the these boys" she winked.

He grinned at her. " Dodger said that he found you a couple of days ago" she whispered to him " Where are your parents?"

He looked down at the table " their dead, I'm an orphan"

Hannah looked sad and patted his arm" I am very sorry about that Oliver, my mother is dead too"

He looked up at her " how did she die?" he asked. Hannah grimaced. " She was murdered"

He stared at her wide-eyed.

She changed the subject " So where were you before you came here?" she asked. He looked at her sully " I was at a workhouse, then I was sold to a coffin maker and that's where I ran away, I came to London to start off new"

She looked at him shocked " I bet that would be quite a story Oliver, you should write a novel one day" she said.

" You think so?" he asked wide eyed. She nodded. Then the door burst open and a group of boys came tumbling through.

They were loud and boyish, they all gathered around the table. Hannah watched as Dodger grabbed a loaf of bread from his pocket and threw it at Fagin, who caught it. Then he grabbed a plate and lifted up his hat, and a stack of pancakes fell out of the hat and onto the plate.

_Wow he's good_ she thought, but as she looked around at all their food she began to feel uncomfortable about eating it, they were poor after all.

Suddenly a chorus of 'good morning Hannah' arose from all the boys. Hannah laughed at them

" Good morning" she said.

Dodger caught her eye and smirked, she quickly looked away. They all sat around the table and began to eat. Hannah didn't touch a piece of food. Yes she was hungry, but she would eat when she got back home, it was their food and they didn't have much of it. " Aren't you hungry my dear?" Fagin asked.

Hannah blushed " No, not at all, and its your food, so you can eat it"

Fagin smiled " Don't be silly my dear, if we didn't want you to eat, then we would of locked you up in the cellar, now have a piece of bread" and with that he cut her a piece and passed it to her. She smiled and bit into it gratefully. A couple of the boys including Dodger stared at her.

Then Fagin turned to Dodger " What did you get this morning Dodger?"

He broke his gaze from Hannah and stuffed his hand in his pocket and to Hannah's horror, pulled out three wallets

"Couple of lined ones" he said, then he reached into his other pocket and pulled out two gold watches. Fagin beamed " well done my boy, well done"

Hannah couldn't believe it, they didn't just steal food, they were all pickpockets, all criminals.

Fagin turned to Charlie " and what did you get this morning Charlie?" he asked. Charlie smirked at Hannah and pulled out 4 handkerchiefs and waved them in front of her face " a couple of wipes Fagin" he said and snorted at Hannah.

Hannah glared at him " good for you, you didn't get caught this time" she said. Everyone at the table laughed, Charlie's face went red.

Hannah waited till everyone was done their meal, as everyone went to stand up to go do whatever, she stood up and walked over to Fagin " I would like to thank you so much for your kindness sir, but I need to go home, my father will be worried sick"

Fagin patted her cheek " of course dear, or course, OI Dodger!" he yelled. Dodger was standing a few feet away leaned up against a wall watching them. He casually walked over to them.

" Will you be so kind as to show the young lady the way out, she needs to go home" Fagin said.

Dodger nodded and walked toward the door waiting for her. All the boys stopped to watch her go.

" bye Hannah!" they all called out, everyone but Charlie that is. Nancy came over and hugged her

" goodbye dear" she said. Hannah walked over to Oliver, she could see sadness in his eyes, she hugged him " Bye Oliver, don't worry, one day you will find a home" she whispered.

Fagin stopped her as she made her way over to Dodger " The boys really like you Hannah, and Nancy and her friend Bet can't always come, if you want you are allowed to come visit us anytime"

For some reason Hannah actually considered it, they were so kind to her after all. " Yes, I think I will do that soon, you are all so kind, but I can't promise any time soon, my father might not let me go anywhere for a while"

Fagin smiled " of course, we will be waiting for you to come visit again" he said and hugged her.

She walked over to Dodger who was tapping his foot " are you finally ready?" he asked.

She slapped his arm " don't be rude, or I will hurt you" she said.

And with that, he led her down the stairs and outside to the pathway.

" So are you like the leader of this group or something?" she asked. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. " Don't really know what your talking about" he said

" Well the other boys sure have respect for you, the way they open the door for you, and when you told Charlie to give him back my hanky, he did it straight away, he didn't listen to Nancy or anyone, just you"

He shrugged " Well I guess I am a favourite of Fagin, but that's it" he said

She stared at him " Why are you a favourite of his? Because you're the best at pick pocketing?" she said loudly. He glared at her, then he grabbed her wrist and pinned her against the side of the building

" You cannot peach about anything you saw today! If you do they will take Fagin away and hang him, they will come after me and the boys so don't you dare tell your father who helped you" he whispered chillingly.

Hannah shivered " alright I won't now get off of me" she said. He glared but slowly let her go. Then he led her the rest of the way easily.

Then to her relief she saw the bookstore, and that's where he left her.

" You defiantly knew the way back last night" she said. He smirked " Maybe, now remember don't tell anyone!" he said as he walked away.

She called back " I promise!" then she turned on her heel and briskly walked home.

When she arrived at her door, there were police officers inside, Edna was talking frantically to them. When they heard the door open they turned and Edna wailed. She ran full speed toward Hannah and practically knocked her over as she smothered her in a hug.

Edna! I'm fine! I can't breath" Hannah gasped. Edna let her go and patted her face

" My dear where have you been? What happened! your father was out all night looking for you!" she said.

Two policemen came over to try to calm her down. Hannah pulled herself out of her embrace, " Edna look at me, I'm fine" she said, trying to comfort her hysterical maid.

" I will go search for Mr. Roberts" one of the policemen said, and left.

Edna broke free from the policemen's hands hand smothered Hannah in another hug. Hannah sighed and patted her back.

A few minutes later Mr. Roberts marched through the door, he looked tired and cross.

" Edna if you please" he said. Edna backed away from Hannah, still sobbing.

Hannah stood in the middle of the room, she and her father stood staring at each other.

" Explain yourself young lady!" he said harshly. Hannah blinked, she had never see her father so awful before.

" Were you kidnapped?" one of the policemen asked. Hannah shook her head " Everyone calm down, I wasn't kidnapped" she said. Mr. Roberts face was all red " Don't you tell me to be calm Hannah! I was up all night searching for you, I thought I lost you for good!"

Hannah was so shocked at how angry her father was she thought that she was going to get hit.

" Why don't you sit down and tell us what happened" one of the policemen said. Hannah nodded and sat on the bench in her living room. The living room window was wide open, the breeze coming through felt good on her face, staying in that little room all night made her hot.

Her father, Edna and 3 police officers sat down across from her.

" Now tell us from the beginning" one of the police officers said.

Hannah sighed " okay, so my friend Maire and I—" suddenly as if on Que. Marie suddenly burst through the door, she snarled at Hannah and marched over to her " Hannah Roberts, when I'm through with you, there is going to be no more left of you!" she said harshly.

Mr. Roberts looked at her " Marie would you be so kind as to wait outside for Hannah, we will send her out to you after we are done with her" he said.

Marie turned and glared at Hannah all the way out the door. Hannah sighed and turned back to the people in the room " Like I was going to say, Marie and I were looking at paintings, and I bought I pretty one by the way" she said. Mr. Roberts gave her a look that told her it was not a joking matter.

Hannah continued and talked fast so she could leave " and then I felt the slightest movement in my pocket and when I turned, there was a boy standing there with mothers handkerchief" she heard her fathers sharp intake of breath, she ignored him and continued " and I love that handkerchief more than anything, so I chased the boy until I got tired and I ended up losing him"

" After I found Marie again, and we had lunch, I dropped her off at home and without thinking I went back to where the boy took my hanky and tried to find him, but when it started to get dark, I realized that I couldn't find my way back and that I was lost, so I found an old staircase where I didn't think anyone would find me and I slept there all night, and when I woke up, I asked a lady to take me back to the bookshop and I found my way home from there"

Hannah finished with a sigh. It was a big lie, and she was hoping that they believed her. They all just looked at her.

" So no one hurt you?" one of the policemen asked. Hannah shook her head " nope, just me getting lost"

Her father put his head in his hands and groaned, Edna came over and patted her shoulder " I am sorry about your handkerchief dear" she said. Hannah smiled " don't need to worry, I got it back!" she said and took it out of her pocket.

Right as she took it out, she realized that she made a mistake, her father eyed her curiously " and how did you get it back?" he said. " You said yourself that you lost the boy" one of the policemen chimed in.

Great, now she had to think of something to cover it up

" Well as I was walking back, it was just lying there on the ground, it wasn't in plain sight, or someone else would of snatched it, but it was at the side of the road, I guess the boy dropped it" she said and shrugged.

One of the policemen eyed her beadily " Alright, whatever you say miss, do you happen to know what the boy looks like? So maybe we can find him and catch him"

" It all happened to fast, I didn't really get a good look at him" she said. " But you said that you turned around and you were face to face with the boy" said another policemen.

Hannah huffed " look, I already told you, it happened so fast, I was to shocked and too distressed about the handkerchief to get a good look at the boy, if you think that I can give you any more information, then your wrong. I already told you what I know, and what happened"

They stared at her " Very well Miss, glad to see you are in good condition, we shall be going now" the police officer said and raised his hat to her. She curtsied and they walked out the door, leaving her all alone with Edna and her father.

" I am very disappointed with you Hannah, you know better than to go chasing after some boy in an alley way, you could have been seriously hurt, go out to Marie and talk to her and then I want you to go straight to your room and stay there for a couple of days, you are not to leave this house" he finished and walked out of the room.

Edna just looked grateful that she was back and kissed her cheek, then scurried off into the kitchen.

Hannah sighed and walked outside. Marie was waiting for her, she glared at her and tapped her foot.

Hannah stopped in front of her, crossed her arms and waited. Both of them didn't say anything for a while.

Finally Marie broke the silence " So, you just going to stand there with your arms crossed and say nothing to me?"

Hannah was silent.

Marie's face turned red, then she burst " You promised Hannah! You promised me that you wouldn't follow him and you lied to me! You lied to your best friend!"

Hannah stayed silent

" Why should I even trust you anymore! I always keep my promises with you Hannah, and you never do the same back, you just lie, lie, lie! You could have been killed! I thought you were dead! Do you know how many people were worried sick about you? And your father! I swear I saw his heart break, he thought he lost you the same way he lost your mother!"

Hannah was still quiet. Marie stepped closer to her, Hannah could feel her rage boiling off of her. " Say something you twit!" she yelled.

Hannah sighed " I have nothing to say, you were right, I didn't keep my promise, I am a lying twit, I know I made a lot of people suffer because of my stupidity and I am sorry, but I don't regret a bit of it. I'm home, alive and I got the handkerchief back"

" You got the hanky back? How?" Marie wondered, " doesn't matter" Hannah said.

Marie's face got red again " so you were willing to put your family, your friends through suffering, just so you could get your dumb handkerchief back?" she yelled.

Hannah's face turned red " Stupid handkerchief! Do you have any idea what that 'stupid handkerchief' means to me! You wouldn't now would you, because last time I checked your mother wasn't murdered, neither was your father. In fact you have both healthy and very alive parents, even grandparents! And you dare to call the only thing I have left from my mother stupid! You're the twit Marie"

Marie groaned " I didn't mean it like that Hannah, what I meant was, that were you actually willing to risk you life over a handkerchief?"

Hannah turned to walk back in the house " yes" she said, and left Marie standing out there all alone.

Hannah knew her father, Edna and even a few neighbours down the street heard her and Marie's little spat, but she didn't care, she marched right up to her room, shut the door and laid down on the bed.

She thought about the people that helped her, Nancy, Fagin, Dodger. Then she remembered what Fagin said, about the boys liking her and would love if she visited. Should she? What if they were leading her into a trap? No, if they wanted to hurt her, they would of done it last night, they helped her, so she did have to repay them, also she liked Nancy, and Oliver. She wasn't sure if she liked Dodger or not, he gave her mixed feelings.

As she was left to her thoughts, no one on the street, Mr. Roberts, Marie, or even the policemen noticed the boy jumping out from behind a rosebush in front of the Roberts house and run down the street, and down the alleyway until he reached his home.

He stopped running up the stairs and calmly walked in through the door. Fagin turned to him when he heard the door open " Well?" he asked.

" She didn't peach, she told the police a lie" Dodger said. Fagin smiled " good girl" he whispered to himself " and good job Dodger, I think this means we can trust her now, hopefully she will come visit in a few days, I am rather fond of her, and I know Oliver and few of the other boys are too" Fagin said.

" she ain't allowed out of her house for a few days, so I don't think we will see her for a while" Dodger said.

Fagin sighed " well, hopefully she will still come"

Dodger shrugged and walked toward his room.

" oh and Dodger, one more thing" Fagin said. Dodger stopped.

" Keep and eye out for her, just watch her and make sure she doesn't go to the police or anything, if you see her in town, just make sure" Fagin said.

" She already lied to the police Fagin, she wouldn't go and tell them she lied, I think were fine" Dodger said.

" Still, just in case, its not your neck that the police would be hanging, its mine" Fagin said. Dodger nodded and headed to his room, he closed the door and sat on his bed.

There was something about her, and he couldn't put his finger on it, yes she was beautiful, witty, but maybe it was her kindness that shocked him, When she didn't want to eat their food this morning, he was speechless, he was sure that a wealthy girl like herself would be complaining all night about how cold she was or there wasn't enough food, or how dirty this place was but no. She was grateful that they gave her somewhere to sleep, a roof over her a head, and food, and she didn't even want to eat it, not becaue it was gross, but because she was worried that they wouldn't have enough. She put other people before herself and Dodger admired that

she was on his mind all day, she was a special one, he could feel it, maybe crabby at times, but special. He couldn't believe how easily she came up with a lie to the police, he was wrong the night before, she was pretty good at lying, or maybe people were just too stupid to know that she was lying, cause he had no problem in telling. What also shocked him was how easily she lied to them, he thought it would be hard for her too do, or maybe she wouldn't of lied at all, he was so sure that she was going to tell everything about them. This made him trust her more and it also made her think about her more.

He smacked himself in the face, _Geez Dodger stop thinking about girls and focus, you have to get up early to go to work, need to keep yourself as Fagin's favourite_

And with that he threw his cap off, turned over and went to sleep


	3. Chapter 3

Hannah's punishment lasted for a week, it was the slowest week of her life, she wasn't allowed to leave the house at all, she read all the books in the house and because she wasn't allowed to go out to buy more, she helped Edna clean up the house all day, or just wandered around looking for something to do. Marie never came to visit her, which didn't surprise her. She was a little harsh to her, and she did break a promise. She was hoping that they would make up soon though, she was missing her best friend.

On the morning that her punishment ended, she got up bright and early, grabbed her basket but this time, she left her mothers handkerchief at home in her dresser and then she headed out the door

" Where do you think your going?" she heard her father say.

Hannah groaned quietly and turned around " Its my last day inside father, I need fresh air, I have been stuck inside for a week"

Her father narrowed his eyes " Be careful," he said.

She nodded and walked out the door,

She headed to the bookshop, where the bell rang as she walked in.

" Hannah!" she heard Ernie say, and he came over to give her a hug. She smiled " You didn't forget to say my name this time" she said.

He laughed " Well I sort of got sick of you telling me each time to say your name"

Hannah snorted " Thanks Ernie"

He patted her back " What can I do for you today Hannah?" he asked.

She shrugged " I'm just browsing, I have been stuck inside for a week, so I have to be prepared if that ever happens again"

Ernie sighed " yeah I heard what happened, you mind yourself and make sure that doesn't happen to you again, some nippers might be dangerous and would like to snatch a pretty young girl like yourself off the street"

Hannah chuckled " your starting to sound like Edna, but thanks Ernie, I promise I will be more careful next time" she said as she walked toward a bookshelf

He followed her to the bookshelf " Got to admit though, that was pretty brave of you to go running after the boy, you didn't just let him get away with him taking your personal items, not many people do that, especially young ladies and I admire that"

She smiled and grabbed a handful of books " Thanks Ernie, I would love to teach you how to go running after a pickpocket one day"

He laughed and gestured for her to come over to the register. She followed and paid for the books.

" Thanks again Ernie! I hope to see you soon" she called as she left the store.

Ernie waved " See you soon Miss Hannah, and by the way, I was hoping that you would be so kind as to make me and my wife some of your famous cookies, she was talking about them yesterday and I just thought I could ask"

Hannah laughed " of course! I will bring them to you on Sunday" and with that, she left the store to head to the painting shop, she wanted to buy the painting that Marie was looking at the other day for her. Marie wasn't able to buy it because she ran off, and she was sorry for making her worry, so she decided to say sorry to her tonight.

She sorted through the paintings looking for the one Marie liked.

" Finally out of the house eh?" She jumped when she heard the voice beside her.

Dodger was leaned against the table that held the paintings and he was eating an apple, he chuckled when she jumped

" You sure are a jumpy one, don't worry I won't nip your pockets" he said and took a bite from the apple

She sighed "Well I wouldn't be so jumpy if you didn't go around sneaking up on me all the time"

He smirked at her

Honestly, don't you have anything better to do than to go sneaking around people?" she asked

He shrugged " Nah not really"

She rolled her eyes, and kept looking through the paintings, when she finally found the one Marie liked, she bought it and started to walk away.

Dodger threw his half-finished apple somewhere on the street and ran to catch up with her " Who's the painting for then?" he asked.

She groaned " if you must know, its for my friend Marie, we had a fight yesterday"

He looked at her " yeah I kind of heard that" he said.

She stopped " you heard that? Where we really that loud?"

He chuckled " no you weren't **that** loud, well you were pretty loud but that's not the point, I was spying on you" he said casually

She stood there shocked " how much did you hear?" she asked.

He shrugged " from the interview with you and the policemen all the way to your little spat with your friend"

She glared at him " you git" she said and walked away briskly. He ran to catch up " why did you do it?"

She looked at him curiously

" I mean why did you lie?" he said

She gave him a look "be quiet, I don't want anyone to hear, and it doesn't matter why I did it, I just did, now leave me alone"

She began to walk away again when she felt him grab her wrist. He gave her a look " I am not letting this drop, and I will get louder if I need to" he said.

She looked around nervously " Look can we talk about this somewhere else then, I don't want anyone to here me"

He nodded and led the way to the park. They both sat on a bench and he crossed his arms " so why did you lie?" he asked.

She sighed " well you guys were so kind to me and let me stay at your home, and I figured you at least deserved to not be fed to the police, even though I did want to beat that Charlie friend of yours"

He smiled " is it true you chased after him then? That's why you were lost?"

She stared at him " have you been following me?" he shrugged " just a bit"

" for how long"

" just to the bookshop and to the painting table, supposedly your cookies are famous?" he said and raised an eyebrow. She snarled at him

He smirked " Now answer my question"

She groaned " Yes okay! I did chase after him"

He laughed at her " bloody brilliant" he said. She looked away from him

" So when did you just get out of the house?" he asked. She looked at him " just this morning actually, my father wouldn't let me out for a week"

" So I heard. That's pretty brutal, must have been pretty boring too" he said. She sighed " It was actually, also because Marie refused to visit me" she said.

" Ah so that's your friends name, she's quite pretty" he said. She glared at him " You stay away from her"

He smirked " No promises"

He looked down at the ground " Fagin and Nancy keep asking about you, Oliver too. I think they are all very fond of you"

Hannah blushed " Fagin and Nancy are very kind, and Oliver is very sweet"

He shrugged " its actually quite annoying" he said. It was silent " Where you lying by the way? To Fagin when you said that you would come back" Dodger asked.

Hannah looked at him " Well I just got out of the house, so I don't know when I can come, but it honestly wasn't a lie, I was actually going to come back, I wanted to see Oliver again"

Dodger groaned " Why is everyone so obsessed with Oliver? He's nothing special"

Hannah glared " Well Oliver actually has manners and doesn't go sneaking up on people, and he is actually very kind to everyone. Maybe you could learn a thing or two from him Dodger" she said.

" I offered you a place to stay didn't I? He snarled. She snorted " Yeah after you threatened me"

He glared at her. Out of her corner of her eye, Hannah saw Marie staring at them, and then she was making her way over to them. Hannah groaned. Dodger looked at her confused and followed her eyes to where she was looking " I think its time for me to leave" he said. She nodded " Yes it is"

He stood up and turned to her " Come back soon though okay, Fagin and Oliver miss you and believe it or not, I think Charlie was a bit fond of you as well, even though you practically did give him a black eye" he grinned.

Hannah laughed " tell them I will come back as soon as I can". Dodger nodded to her just as Marie reached them. " Hello" she said to him.

He lifted his hat to her " Hello Miss" he said and walked off, probably to go find some wealthy man to steal from.

Marie turned to Hannah and stared at her " who was that?" she asked.

Hannah shrugged as she watched Dodger walk off and disappear behind a carriage " just someone that wanted a chat"

Marie squinted at her " it seemed that you two knew each other really well" she said.

Hannah shrugged " he was just really friendly"

Hannah laughed in her head, he was so not friendly

Marie looked back to where he disappeared " He is really good looking" she said and blushed

She knew Marie would think that, but she shrugged " yes he is"

Marie stared at her " Well I just came to see if he was bothering you, I shall be going now, goodbye" and with that she turned on her heel

" Marie wait!" Hannah called out. Marie turned around and waited.

Hannah pulled out the painting, Marie's eyes went wide when she saw it " You didn't" she gasped.

Hannah smiled " Here I bought it for you, I wanted to say sorry, the reason we are in a fight is because of me and it was been awful not talking to you for a week"

Marie stared at her " are you trying to buy my friendship back?" she asked

Hannah hesitated and nodded.

Marie laughed " good enough for me" and she took the painting and looked at it. She gave Hannah a hug

" I'm sorry that I have been such a twit too, forgive me also?"

Hannah smiled and nodded.

Suddenly they heard a cough behind them, they turned and saw Hugh smiling at them, eyeing Hannah. Marie grinned to herself " I will see you later Hannah, I will come over later tonight" she winked at her, receiving a death glare from Hannah, and strutted off to find Helen and Grace.

Hannah turned back to look at Hugh, who smiled and offered out his arm, Hannah took it and they walked around the park.

" How are you Hannah?" he asked. " Just fine thank you, and yourself?" she said.

He nodded " I am fine as well, though I was wondering if you were okay"

Hannah immediately knew what he was talking about " How many people know about that?" she sighed.

He rubbed the back of his head " quite a few, the police were out looking for you all night, people have been saying that you were coming home and you were kidnapped and you manage to escape"

Hannah gave him a look " is that what people are saying around town?"

He nodded " yes, so how did you escape?"

Hannah groaned " it's a rumor, I wasn't kidnapped I simply got lost in a different part of town at night and then happened to find my way back in the morning"

He looked at her " I think I liked the other story better" he laughed. She smiled at him " charming"

" So tell me how you escaped" he said. She grinned " Well with my big strong muscles, I knocked the nipper to the ground, grabbed my handkerchief from his pocket and threatened that if he didn't show me the way home, I would pummel him"

He laughed loudly " that I can believe" she smiled at him, happy they he found her amusing.

His face suddenly turned red and he coughed in his hand. Hannah looked at him curiously " Are you feeling well?" she asked.

" Yes, yes, I was just wondering if you would… well if you would allow me to take you out for dinner one night" he asked.

Hannah felt her face go red, she didn't really want to, but she should at least give him a chance right? The would be fair.

" Yes, of course, I would enjoy that" she said with a smile, he beamed down at her " that's great! I am leaving tomorrow and I will be gone all next week, but when I get back I will send you a letter and pick you up" he smiled

" Okay" she nodded " why are you gone?" she asked curiously

" I am visiting my grandmother" he sighed. Hannah raised her eyebrow " do you not like to visit her?"

" No, its not that I don't like too, I mean she is my grandmother, but she can be so grouchy and she makes all of her grandchildren stay with her for a week so now it is my turn" he said.

She laughed " I see then, well I wish you the best of luck" he chuckled " Come on, I will walk you to your door"

She smiled up at him, she was really starting to enjoy his company, was she starting to have feelings for him?

When they reached her door, he bowed to kiss her hand. When he stood back up to eye level, she kissed his cheek, which caused a blush on his face " Thank you for walking me to my door" she said softly.

He smiled, then suddenly then suddenly the front door flew open and her father stepped out, in the midst of putting on his glove. He was wearing his coat and hat, so he was going somewhere.

He jumped when he saw them, clearly not noticing them as he was walking out " His eyes went back and forth between Hugh and Hannah"

He held out his hand to Hugh " Good Day Mr. Calvin" he said. Hugh shook his hand right back " Good day Mr. Roberts"

Then he turned to Hannah " I will be going out Hannah, Edna is out as well so get yourself some dinner and get to sleep" he said.

" Yes father" she nodded, and watched as her father practically ran down the steps and in the direction of the town square.

" I wonder what's going on" she said. Hugh shrugged " Some town meeting again, I will see you again soon Hannah, goodbye" and with that he walked down the steps and in the direction of his own home, turning back once to wave at her.

Hannah smiled to herself and walked inside, she loved those rare moments where she was home alone. She walked into the kitchen and instead of making herself dinner, she got out the cookie tray and a whole bunch of flower. She was going to make cookies, lots of cookies. She was planning on making a few for Ernie and his wife, but she was planning on making a whole basket full for Fagin and the boys.

It took hours for Hannah to finish all of the cookies, as she waited for the last batch to finish she thought about Hugh, how kind he was and such a gentlemen, and she compared him to Dodger, how rough he was and how rude, though he wasn't a bad person, she could tell.

Hugh was so sweet and gentle, would never harm a fly, but maybe that's why she thought he was kind of daft, he was way to sweet for her, and she thought he was pretty boring. Yes she did enjoy his company, but she found herself bored with him, all they talked about was useless gossip. Maybe she made a mistake of saying yes to go out with him.

She thought about the difference between him and Dodger. Total opposites, yet she had to admit it was fun being around Dodger, it let her release the lady like appearance and let her be herself.

The ring from the oven made her jump and she quickly walked to the oven to retrieve the cookies so they wouldn't burn. As she set them out to cool, she ran upstairs to get her basket, as she passed a window something caught her eye, some light out in the middle of the town square. She couldn't see that well but saw that crowds of people were gathering

What on earth? Was someone being hanged?

She went back downstairs and before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed her cloak and headed out the door.

She was such an idiot

When she was close enough where she could hear what was happening but not be seen, she stopped and hid behind a post.

She squinted and saw a crowd gathered, but she could not see ropes or anyone about to be hanged. What was going on?

Suddenly a hand covered her mouth and pulled her back, she let out a muffled scream.

" Shhh be quiet or we will get caught" whispered a voice in her ear. She turned relaxed when she saw the outline of Dodger's face and his top hat in the little bit of light the post she was hiding behind gave her.

He let her go and she sighed " I really think you enjoy sneaking up on people" she said. He smirked " I think you enjoy getting yourself into trouble"

She huffed " well I won't get in trouble if I stay hidden"

he snorted " Hidden? I could see you from a mile away, I'm surprised no one saw you"

" How?" she whispered.

He laughed quietly " Well first off, you are hidden under a street lamp, which if you haven't noticed is not very big and can't cover you very well, and second it is a _street lamp _which means that there is light coming down from it and onto you"

She blushed and really hoped that it was dark enough so he couldn't see it " Well I am not as good at sneaking as you are" she whispered angrily

He chuckled and grabbed her hand " Come on, let's get a better view"

She tried to pull away desperately " no, I can't get caught! If I get any closer I will get caught and get hanged by my father himself"

He laughed " I promise you that you will not get caught, how do you think I get the wallets for Fagin? And that's in broad daylight, come on you won't get caught"

She looked around nervously " Well alright" and let herself be pulled by Dodger and into a bush right beside the crowd. He was right, he was pretty good at this stuff.

" So why are you here?" she asked. He shrugged " I saw them all the way from my place and thought I could check it out, you?"

She sighed " same here, my father is part of it actually and he is always hiding stuff from me so I thought I could find out myself, do you have any idea what this is about?" she whispered

He shook his head " no idea"

They were quiet for a while, listening to the adults. All they heard were some muffled voices " He's Back—"

" We need to stop this"

" Can't happen again"

This was all they heard. She looked at Dodger confused " What are they talking about?"

He shook his head again and stayed silent.

Suddenly Hannah felt something by her hand, she looked down and saw a snake gliding over it

Before she could stop herself she let out a little scream, before Dodger quickly covered her mouth and pulled her against him.

The closest people to them turned " What was that?" one of them asked and some of them started to walk toward the bush that they were hiding in.

Dodger pulled her tighter to him and he inched away slowly so his back was pressed against a brick wall and hers was pressed against his chest. Hannah felt flushed, she was never this close to him, he was warm and she found herself comfortable, she could feel his heart beating, it was going very fast, he was probably worried they would catch them.

" Don't say a word" he whispered in her ear.

She didn't say anything, and neither did she, they just sat there, pressed against a wall, his hand over her mouth so she wouldn't make a sound.

The people that heard them looked around and shrugged, then turned around to go back to the meeting. She heard Dodger let out a relieved sigh, then he let go of Hannah, but as soon as he let go of her, for some unknown reason, she sneezed.

Dodger stared at her in disbelief

The people that just came over spun around " There is someone there behind the rosebush" one of them yelled.

" Time to go" Dodger said and grabbed Hannah's hand and pulled her out of the rosebush.

They ran as fast as they could, Hannah trying not to trip because of her dress. She could hear yelling behind them.

" Hey you! Boy! Girl! Stop right there!" she heard. She was frightened and ran faster.

Soon they reached her house and she tried the door, but to her horror, it didn't open " I locked myself out" she whispered urgently.

Dodger looked around her house " Is there an open window that you can go through?" he said.

She could hear the yells from the citizens, it sounded as if they were coming their way.

" I don't know! The one in the sitting room might be open" she whispered, she was starting to get scared as she heard the cries get louder.

Dodger grabbed her hand and pulled her to the side of her house, He tried to open the window but it wouldn't budge, instead of panicking or saying they were doomed, he inspected the window, then he drew out a knife from his pocket, and he put it through the crack in the window and tried to pick it.

Hannah could hear the voices getting closer, they must have reahced her street by now.

" Come on Jack, Come on" she whispered frantically. He didn't say anything, he just worked faster. His tongue sticking out as he concentrated on the window. Finally Hannah heard a click and grinned at him, he opened the window and crouched down " Come on, I will give you a boost"

She stepped into his hand, and felt herself be lifted easily through the window. She tumbled inside and onto the carpet of her sitting room and quickly got back up and to close the window.

" Dodger!" She called to him before he could leave, he turned to her " Thank you!" she said. " I am coming tomorrow!"

He smiled up at her and then he took off and jumped easily over the fence and disappeared into the night.

Hannah smiled after him, quickly closed the window and locked it. She heard voices from the street.

" I saw them come this way, it was a boy and a girl, they defiantly ran this way" a voice said

"We need to check our homes to make sure out children our in bed" a different voice said, it was her fathers voice.

Hannah quickly turned off all the lights in the house, put the cookies in the basket and ran up the stairs to her room, tripping along the way.

She threw off her cloak stuffed it in her closet and jumped into bed with her day clothes on.

A few seconds after she got into bed. She heard the door open and heard her father walk quietly over to her bed to make sure she was there and asleep. Then she heard his boots walk out and quietly shut the door so he wouldn't wake her.

Hannah waited until she heard the front door close and even waited a little after that. Then she sighed and got out of bed to change into her nightclothes.

That entire run made her tired. She was happy that she wasn't caught, she never expected Dodger to be so nice to her though, she would of though that he would of led her astray instead of leading her to her own house, maybe he really did care about her

_Maybe he is friendly,_ she thought, _but what if he was angry that I gave away our hideout?_

_I guess we just have to see tomorrow_ she thought.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Hannah put all the cookies in 2 different baskets and started to head out the door, She yelled to Edna and her father on her way out " I will be out all day!"

Mr. Roberts came out of the hallway " What on earth could you be doing that would last all day?"

Hannah quickly thought of something " I will be with Marie all day". Her father looked at her.

Great, now she had to go to Marie to ask to lie to her father if he asked.

She waved " goodbye" she said and walked out the door.

Just as she walked outside, she bumped into Marie, who was walking up her steps.

Hannah grabbed her hand and walked her away from the house. When they were out of hearing distance, Hannah turned to her " Look Marie, I'm not free today, so can we get together tomorrow?" she whispered.

Marie looked at her " What are you doing?". " It doesn't matter, I'm just not free" she said urgently.

Marie huffed "you tell me what you're doing Hannah Roberts or my voice will get louder"

Hannah rolled her eyes " alright, I am helping out Ernie in the bookshop all day okay".

It scared her sometime how easily he could lie.

Marie looked at her confused " why do you have to whisper that then?" she asked.

Hannah sighed " it was suppose to be a surprise, and I don't want anyone to hear and tell him before I get there"

Marie just stared at her. Hannah turned to go " well goodbye" she said.

" Not so fast!" she heard Marie shout behind her. Hannah turned "What now?" she asked impatiently. Marie slowly walked over to her and looked her up and down suspiciously "Remember when I said I would come over to your house late last night after you were with Hugh?" she asked.

Hannah looked at her confused " What about it?"

Marie shrugged " Well I thought it was quite funny that all the lights in your house were on but yet you didn't seem to be home"

Then it hit her, that's when she and Dodger went to spy on the crowd. " I just fell asleep Marie" she said. Marie shook her head "You can't sleep with lights on, you hate it"

She continued "I also heard that there was a boy and girl spying on the town meeting last night, and when they were caught they ran to your neighborhood and mysteriously disappeared"

Hannah didn't like where this was going.

Marie looked at her right in the eye " Was it you?" she said. "No it wasn't" Hannah insisted.

Marie looked at her, and her voice got louder "Look me straight in the eye and tell me it wasn't you last night" she said.

Hannah looked around nervously, then she dragged Marie behind the carriage " Alright, alright, it was me last night okay!"

Marie gasped

"I knew it! But who was the boy you were with?" she whispered. Hannah rolled her eyes " it doesn't matter, now I really have to go"

Marie grabbed her wrist " Hannah Roberts you tell me what's going on right now, you have been acting so strange lately, was it Hugh you were with last night? Are you having another affair with a boy?"

Hannah shook her head " No, its none of those things" she said.

"then tell me! I am your best friend, we promised that we would tell each other everything" Marie pleaded

Hannah looked at her " I just can't okay, I have to go"

Then she turned before Marie could say anything else and walked briskly away to Ernie's bookshop.

The bell rang when she opened the door. Ernie turned to her " Hannah! Its good to see you dear"

Hannah smiled at him " its good to see you too! But I'm afraid I don't have much time, I just came to deliver the cookies I promised you" she smiled.

Ernie took one of the baskets from her hand " Thank you dear, my wife will appreciate it"

Hannah waved as she walked out the door " Goodbye Ernie"

She headed onto the busy street to the painting shop, when she got there, she quickly looked around to make sure no one was looking, then she walked briskly into the alley where she got lost.

She desperately hoped that she wouldn't get lost again, she made her way by memory until finally something looked familiar.

She found the staircase that led up their rooms. She quickly ran up the stairs until she reached the door, instead of knocking, knowing that she would be face to face with Charlie, she just walked in.

She could hear the yelling and shouting all the way up the stairs, they wouldn't of heard her knock even if she did.

She walked slowly up the staircase and stood at the top of the steps. A group of the boys were playing cards and a couple of them were shouting at each other, she saw Fagin at the stove cooking sausages and saw Oliver off to the side timidly watching the boy play. Nancy and Dodger were no where in sight and neither was Charlie.

She waited at the top steps until they noticed her. Finally one of the boys looked up. His eyes went wide and the pipe that he was smoking dropped to the floor, he stood on his feet " Oi! Hannah is here!" he shouted and ran to give her a hug. The group of boys looked up and ran to her, a couple trying to look in her basket.

Hannah laughed and she smacked a boy across the head that tried to get in the basket " Enough or I will have to hang all of you" she said.

They backed off and she walked over to Oliver and gave him a hug, he returned it happily.

" Hannah my dear how nice to see you" Fagin said and walked over.

Hannah smiled " Its good to see you too, I brought you something in thanks for letting me stay here over night"

Fagin raised an eyebrow and Hannah walked over to a table and opened the basket. One of the younger boys cried out " Cookies!"

Hannah laughed and dumped them out on the table " Make sure you save some for Dodger and Nancy"

The boys ignored her and grabbed at some of the cookies. Luckily she made a lot so there would be some left over for people who didn't get one

Oliver's eyes went wide when he bit into one "these have to be the best tasting cookies I have ever had!" he exclaimed. The rest of the boys agreed and continued to gobble them down.

Hannah chuckled "I am known for my cookies" she said.

Fagin called Hannah over. She walked over to the stove where Fagin was cooking sausages.

" Thank you my dear for bringing those to the boys, they haven't had good food in a while" he smiled

Hannah grinned "Anytime, I love giving things to people"

"What smells delicious?" Said a voice behind her "Fagin you never cooked so well before" Dodger said at the top of the stairs.

"Watch it Dodger" Fagin said and turned back to the sausages. Dodger caught Hannah's eye and winked. She blushed and pretended to be interested in the cooking sausages.

She heard Dodger walk over to table. She glanced at him as he bit into one of her cookies. She couldn't read the expression on his face as he finished it.

Finally he sighed and picked up another one "Yep these are famous alright" he said. Hannah grinned.

He sat down and gestured Hannah over to him. She obliged and sat across from him.

" Were you caught?" he asked. Hannah shook her head "Just seconds from being caught but I wasn't, I appreciate what you did for me last night, I didn't think you could be so nice" she said.

He shrugged "It happens, but no problem, picking a window or a door lock is what I do best"

She snorted at him "Not very surprising"

He smirked and took another cookie. She looked at him, wondering if he was mad "Are you angry with me?" she asked.

He looked at her and raised and eyebrow

"I mean with blowing our cover, you were almost caught because of me"

Immediately Dodger burst out laughing. Hannah looked at him confused "What's so funny?"

"Never in all my life, have a met someone so terrible at sneaking around as you are, it really was quite amusing" he said and laughed again.

Hannah blushed "Well I'm not a criminal like you are"

He stopped laughing and glared at her "I wish you would stop saying that" he said.

She looked at him "Stop saying what? Criminal? Its what you are Jack, what do you want me to refer you as? A priest?"

She saw his mouth slightly curve, like he wanted to smile. But he still glared at her. Its not what you say, it's the way you say it, like I'm the worst person in the world"

She sighed "I don't mean it like you're the worst person in the world, there are defiantly more worse people out there, but what you do it pretty bad Jack, its not good to steal stuff that rightfully belong to other people"

He shrugged "Their rich, they have plenty other stuff"

She stared at him "No they don't, not all are as rich as they seem to be, and some of the things they have are very important to them, like my mothers hanky for example, I would have be broken if it was lost for good"

Dodger stared at her "That's why you don't bring important things with you to town, it might get stolen"

She looked at him "you don't care that the things you take may be so important to people that it puts their life at risk? What if it was something you loved?"

"If it was something I cared about then I wouldn't bring it with me, and I don't care how important it would be to the person cause its my job, I do it to live"

"Its not a occupation" she said quietly. "Stealing is not a job"

He glared at her "Well its what I want to be , Fagin says I will become a regular Bill Sykes when I am older"

She raised an eyebrow "Bill Sykes?"

"He is only one of the best and most dangerous criminals anyone has ever heard of, and never gets caught, I am quite proud to be told that I am next in line"

"Yes being hated and feared by the whole world is defiantly something to be proud of" she said sarcastically

He glared at her, his ears becoming red "I am not afraid of being feared of or hated, I just want to be know as something to the whole world, so everyone knows who I am"

She shook her head "I can honestly see you becoming a better person then that Dodger, you have good inside you, I can tell. I don't think you would be able to be dangerous toward anyone"

He looked very angry "I am guessing you don't remember the alleyway then?" he asked.

"Oh I remember that alright, but I also remember you not hurting me and taking me to your home where I was taken care of, I also remember the way you treated my friend when she showed up at the park. You actually have respect for women, something I never would of thought you would have, So where did you learn your manners from then? Cause it defiantly wasn't from this group of boys" she said, it sounded harsher then she meant it to be.

His cheeks went red and he stood up from the table, grabbed her wrist and dragged her into the other room, away from everyone. No one seemed to notice them leave and his grip on her wrist was very tight, there were most likely going to be bruises.

They entered the room where she last slept and he pinned her against the wall. "You are lucky no one heard what you said back there, I could have got kicked out"

She glared at him

"Do you know why I didn't hurt you that night in the alley? Because you were crying like a baby and you defiantly weren't worth getting my butt kicked for" he said harshly

Hannah couldn't believe he said that, she let her hurt show and right away she saw guilt in his eyes "I know you don't mean that" she whispered, she noticed that his face was rather close to hers.

"You just never know when to keep your mouth shut do you? I am starting to get sick of hearing you talk" he said.

She noticed that his face was getting even closer to hers, her heart was racing.

Suddenly she heard a door bang and a scream from the next room. Dodger pulled away from her and let her wrists go. Hannah glared at him and turned to run out to the other room to see what was happening.

What she found in the other room was the last thing she expected. There was Charlie, standing above a girl who was on the ground swearing at him. But it just wasn't any girl, it was Marie. And what shocked Hannah was that she was swearing. Right up at Charlie.

"You Bastard! What makes you think that you could go ahead and drag me here like this, why don't you take your fat head and shove it up your tiny ass!" she yelled. Charlie looked at her with shock and amusement. Hannah stood there staring at her. Marie finally looked up and her eyes went wide when she saw Hannah. She tried to stand up but Charlie walked towards her as if to push her back down, Marie snarled at him "Don't even think of touching me" she said.

"Charlie let her go" Hannah heard Dodger behind her. Hannah turned to Dodger who was just stared at the scene with amusement on his face. He recognized Marie. His eyes met Hannah's who turned quickly away to go help her friend up.

Marie stared at Hannah. Fagin walked over, looking angry. "Charlie, what the hell is this? You can't just go picking up young ladies on the street and bringing them here"

Charlie stared at Marie "I didn't just drag her here Fagin, I caught her trying to get in our place and then she punched me when I wouldn't tell her where Hannah was" he said and glared at Marie. Hannah noticed his eye was becoming black and he rubbed his jaw. Fagin looked at Marie "so your Hannah's friend?" he asked curiously

Marie stood up tall "Yes I am" she said. Fagin looked between Hannah and Marie "How did you find her here?" he asked and stared at Hannah. Hannah's heart fell, he thought that she told Marie.

Marie looked at Hannah "Well after you clearly lied to me, I could tell something was up so I followed you here, I thought you were having an affair with another boy so I wanted to see for myself, but now I can see it wasn't just one boy, but seven others" she said harshly and glared at Hannah.

Hannah felt her face grow red from embarrassment. She saw Charlie smirk and heard Dodger snicker behind her. Hannah glared at her twice as hard. She turned to everyone "Everyone, I would like to introduce you to my dear, lovely and sincere friend Marie, if you all don't mind I would like to have a word with her, we will be back shortly" she said and pulled her towards the room that she and Dodger were just in. Dodger moved out of the doorway so they could go in.

Hannah slammed the door shut behind them, she turned angrily to Marie "What the hell is your problem? Are you crazy!" she was surprised at herself that she swore. Marie glared at her "What? So I don't get any credit for caring about you?"

Hannah shook her head "I told you that I was perfectly fine! And of course you have to go and butt your nose in again"

Marie's face turned red with anger "all I ever do is care about you Hannah, you always have to make everything harder for everyone, and make everyone worry about you! If you just told me right away then everything would have been fine"

Hannah glared "No Marie, everything wouldn't of been fine, you would of gone and tattled to my father and then he would arrest them thinking they kidnapped me when really they helped me when I was in need of help! And now that you know, you are most likely going to the police aren't you?"

Marie didn't say anything.

Hannah had tears in her eyes "I can't believe you, I don't think I would ever want to speak to you again if you told the police"

Now Marie had tears in her eyes

Hannah turned to leave, but Marie grabbed her hands "Please Hannah, I wouldn't be able to live if you weren't my best friend, I wasn't going to tell, I promise. I jut wanted to make sure that you weren't going to put yourself in any danger. If they helped you out and if they are nice people then I won't tell anyone, it can be our secret"

Hannah smiled and hugged her "I shouldn't of threatened our friendship Marie, but you don't know how important this is, they don't deserve to be hanged, they are good people, you will see once you get to know them" she said.

Marie hugged her back and Hannah dried her tears. Come on, let's go back. They grabbed hands and as they opened the door, Charlie and a couple of other boys tumbled into the room.

Marie and Hannah looked at each other and snickered "Been eavesdropping have you?" Marie said to Charlie.

Charlie blushed "No, I was just cleaning the door" and with that he grabbed a hanky from his jacket and polished the door handle.

Marie laughed and pushed him on the floor, "Don't be an idiot" she said. He glared at her "Just watch who your talking to, or I might just have to put a mouse in your dress"

Marie shrieked.

Hannah turned to Dodger who was leaning against the table, he looked back and forth between Hannah and Marie, how a few minutes ago they were fighting and now were smiling and holding hands as if nothing happened. "Girls" he said to himself and shook his head

Hannah stuck her tongue out at him.

Suddenly Nancy and another women walked in. As soon as Nancy laid eyes on Hannah she grinned and walked over to give her a hug "Its great to see you!"

Hannah smiled and hugged her back "Nancy this is my friend Marie" she said. Marie and Nancy smiled at one another. Then Nancy turned to her friend "and this is my friend Bet"

Bet smiled and waved at them.

Nancy and Bet walked over to a table where Dodger and Charlie were waiting.

Nancy turned around "Come on you two, I will teach you how to play cards, its kind of like gambling"

Hannah and Marie sat down, and watched as Nancy explained the whole game to them.

Through out the game. Hannah noticed Marie smiling and even laughing. Hannah was happy she was enjoying herself. Hannah kept beating Dodger each round.

Dodger threw his cards down "Ah! Not again!" he said, as Hannah showed him her cards. She laughed and patted his arm "Don't be a bad sport, just accept that I am better at this than you" she said and laughed.

"Now who's being a bad sport" he said and laughed. Hannah smiled and got up from her seat. Dodger raised an eyebrow "and where do you think your going?" he asked.

"too visit Oliver" she said. "he is much more interesting than me kicking your but 20 times"

Dodger sneered and went back to his game.

Oliver was sitting in a corner all by himself. Hannah sat beside him. "What's wrong Oliver? You should come join us" she said with a gentle smile.

Oliver shook his head "No thank you Miss Hannah, I am comfortable here"

Hannah stared at him and then she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Do you like being here Oliver?"

He looked around to make sure anyone was listening "They are very kind people and they have taken good care of me and gave me new clothes and such, but I just don't feel like I belong. They steal, I don't like to steal from anyone unless I have too, and I have been kept inside the whole time, I am not allowed to leave until I learn how to take someone's hanky, so I don't get caught by the police"

Hannah frowned "well the last part is unfair, you can still learn and wander the streets looking at the same time, if you want I will have a word with Dodger"

Oliver smiled gratefully, Hannah hugged him "You are a good boy Oliver, I know that one day you will live in a place where you belong and you will be the happiest boy alive"

His eyes twinkled up at her. Hannah looked out the window, it was starting to get dark, she looked at Marie who was laughing and smiling. Hannah didn't want to ruin her fun, but if they didn't leave soon both their parents would murder them.

Hannah turned to Oliver one last time "I will come back soon Oliver, goodnight"

She got up and tapped Marie "Sorry to spoil the fun, but it is time for us to go"

The whole table groaned, including Marie. "some fun you are" Charlie exclaimed.

Hannah glared at him "If we don't leave soon, we will be killed by our very own parents, now lets go" She said, grabbing Marie's hand. "Will you see us out Dodger?" she said. Dodger looked surprised, but reluctantly stood up and led them out. A chorus of good-byes followed them out the door and they waved back.

Dodger led them down the stairs and onto the streets "I suppose you know your way from here?" he asked. Marie nodded "thank you very much" and began to walk down the street. Hannah though stayed behind

"I will need to talk to you later" she whispered. Dodger looked surprised and smirked. Hannah slapped his top hat off his head "Don't you smirk at me, its not what your thinking if I know what your thinking"

Dodger bent down to pick up his hat but continued to smirk "Goodbye then" he said, then he turned and disappeared into the crowd of people. Hannah sighed and ran to catch up with Marie.

Hannah smiled as she linked her arm through hers "I knew you would like those people, you were having the time of your life" she said.

Marie smiled "they are so kind, Will we go back again?"

Hannah laughed "yes, they are our friends, we can visit them anytime we want"

Marie smiled "Good, lets go tomorrow then"

Hannah laughed again

"You know, Charlie really isn't all that bad looking"

Hannah stopped laughing "You can't be serious, he stole my hanky, kidnapped you and you tell me he is good looking? Were you dropped on your head as a baby?"

Marie glared at her and flushed "as a matter of fact I didn't say he was good looking, I just said he wasn't bad looking, and yes he did do all those bad things, but he was very kind to me afterwards, he helped me win the card game"

Hannah snorted "Charlie being nice? That's a new one"

Marie continued to glare at her, even when they reached Hannah's house.

"Meet me in front of the paint shop, tomorrow at 2 O'clock" Hannnah said.

Maire stopped glaring and grinned "I will be there" then she took of toward her own house.

Hannah sighed and walked inside. Edna greeted her at the door "Did you have a good time today?" she asked with a smile.

Hannah grinned and nodded "a very good time, thank you Edna, is father home yet?"

Edna shook her head "Another town meeting, he will be back when you're asleep, now off to bed with you" she said

Hannah grabbed 4 cookies from the kitchen counter and raced up the stairs.

She shut her window and curtains and got changed in her nightclothes, Hannah sighed and sat on her comfy bed to read some of Jane Eyre when she heard a tap on her window.

Hannah stared at it "must be a bug" she said to herself. Suddenly there was another tap, a bigger one this time and it made her jump.

"What on earth?"

She slowly walked over to her window and peeked out of her curtains, she didn't see anything. She opened her curtains and unlocked her window and stared down at the street. She sighed in frustration thinking it was some kids playing a joke on her, Hannah turned to go back inside when she heard a whistle

"Oi! Hannah!"

Hannah jumped and looked down her window again, Dodger was grinning up from streets at her

"What on earth are you doing?" She called down a softly as she could.

Dodger didn't answer her question, "Move out of the way, I am coming up" he called back

Before Hannah could stop him, he ran at the wall and began climbing vines that were sprawled across the walls of her house.

Hannah backed away as he tumbled onto her bedroom floor, she chuckled "very graceful" she said. He looked up at her "I got in didn't I?" he said. She crossed her arms "about that" she said. "You know that if you get caught, you will go to jail and get killed, what are you doing here?" she said.

He looked around her room "You asked to talk to me later, now is later. Nice place you got here, a little too fancy for my taste" he said. Hannah sighed "me too"

He stared at her in surprise "You don't like your home?"

"Not that I don't like it, it's just to breakable and fancy, I enjoy more cottage, smaller homes, not so much pressure to live under"

He smiled at her. She turned away "So about you coming in my room?"

He shrugged and sat on her bed "You said you wanted to talk, and I wanted to see your palace" he smirked

"Yes as a matter of fact I did want to talk, about Oliver"

Dodger groaned "Why is everyone so obsessed with him?

Hannah ignored him and continued "Why do you guys keep him inside? He is depressed, all he wants to do is go out for a little while, he won't steal anything or get caught"

He crossed his arms "We can't risk it, if he does anything too rash, we all will be in trouble, we are just waiting a little longer so we can trust him"

Hannah huffed "He won't do anything wrong, not if you keep an eye out for him, if you leave him inside any longer he could be forced to do something rash like try to escape and that could lead to something bad"

Dodger glared at her "I will think about it"

Hannah sighed "Well I guess that is better than a no"

Hannah walked over to her nightstand and threw 2 of the cookies at Dodger who caught them.

He stared at her and the 2 cookies in his hand and on the nightstand "4? If I didn't come you were going to eat 4 cookies?"

Hannah blushed and shrugged "I tend to eat like a pig when I am by myself"

Dodger grinned and took a bite out of one of the cookies "I'm impressed, I always liked a girl with a good appetite"

Hannah turned away "Well too bad that I am a crybaby"

Silence

"Look Hannah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it" he said.

"Well you convinced me" she said. She heard him sigh "You aren't a cry baby, honestly you are quite the opposite, I was just angry that you confronted me that's all"

she sighed softly "well I will think about forgiving you, but for now you are still on my bad side"

"Even when I saved you from that mob?"

"That's why I am thinking about it"

She heard him chuckle quietly behind her.

"You are defiantly not like other girls, I like how you're not always stuffy and polite"

She couldn't agree with him more "Polite and stuffy or two different things, its nice to be polite, people appreciate it, but stuffy is just awful, that's the way my grandmother tried to teach me to live"

He looked at her curiously "tried? So you told her off?"

She sighed, wishing that he were far from right "yes I told her off, and because I did, she refuses to speak to my family anymore"

Hannah looked down at her hands, trying to erase the memory. She heard Dodger stand up and walk over to her. He grabbed her hands.

"She doesn't realize that you're a good person, maybe if she saw how kind you were to other people, she would ease up?"

Hannah shook her head "No, she wouldn't care, and I don't either, its her choice if she doesn't want to talk to me over a stupid reason, I am not changing who I am for anyone"

Suddenly Dodger stepped close to her, their faces were only inches apart. Though Hannah didn't feel threatened "I agree with you one hundred percent, never change who you are" He whispered in her ear

Hannah's heart fluttered and she felt a blush creep up her cheeks "Thank you"

He smirked down at her, then he slowly leaned in.

She felt like her heart was beating a mile a minute

Suddenly there was a knock on her door.

Hannah whipped around. Someone was outside her bedroom. "Hannah? May I come in?"

It was her father. Hannah looked at Dodger, his eyes were wide. If her father caught him they would both be dead, it was no use using the window, he would hear him climbing down.

"No I am not decent yet! I am getting changed!" she called out. "One minute!"

she ran to her dresser and pulled out her nightgown, then she ran to Dodger and pushed him on the floor

"Stay under the bed and be as still as possible! And Don't you dare look or I will have your head!"

He merely nodded and ducked under the bed.

Hannah quickly took off her day clothes to change into her nightclothes, while carefully watching the bed to make sure Dodger wouldn't sneak a peek

It took a few minutes to untie the corset and another few to get out of her itchy stockings and dress. She quickly hung them up and threw her nightgown over her head, she walked briskly to the door and opened it.

Her father stood, waiting patiently, hands behind his back. "May I come in?" he asked.

Hannah nodded quickly and moved to let him inside. She watched her nervously as he paced around her room, and she couldn't stop herself from occasionally glancing toward the bed, hopefully he didn't notice.

Finally he turned around and sat on her bed. " I just came to see how you are doing?"

Hannah raised her eyebrows "I am doing wonderful father, why do you ask?"

"Well I have noticed that you go out a lot, hardly at home anymore, we don't have much time to talk" he said, slightly embarrassed.

Hannah grinned, pleased that her father wants her around more "I'm sorry, I didn't notice I have been gone a lot lately, how about we go out for lunch tomorrow?"

His face immediately relaxed, and he smiled "Yes that does sound nice, I will take you out to lunch tomorrow"

Hannah smiled "is that all?"

Suddenly he frowned "No that's not all, I have some news that I think you have the right to hear"

Hannah frowned as well, he did not look happy "What is it?"

He looked around the room, as if he wanted to talk about something else

" I think it would be best if you start to come home a little earlier than usual, maybe around 4:30, 5, and I don't think it would be best to go out as much anymore"

Hannah looked at him, shocked. "Why? What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing dear, of course you did nothing, but its not just me that is setting this rule, many families are making their children come home earlier"

Hannah huffed frustrated "but why? Why do they want us to come home early?"

He scratched the back of his neck

"Its not been very safe lately, a dangerous man that we thought was gone came back, and we don't want anyone hurt again" he said.

Hannah stared at him "hurt again? Who is this man?"

His eyes widened as he realized his mistake, then he groaned inwardly "It's the same man that killed your mother Hannah, we thought he was in jail, or that he left for good, but recently a young women was murdered near here and someone said they spotted the same man"

Hannah paled, she didn't know what to say, the man that killed her mother was back "How did I not know about this, why have I not heard about the lady?"

"We wanted to keep it a secret, so we wouldn't alarm people, but we now need to take precautions, I don't want you out after dark and I want you home 2 hours before it gets dark, and don't go out as much anymore, I don't want you to get hurt"

and with that he stood up and left the room before Hannah could say anything, tears filled her eyes. She stood staring at the door for a long time, she even forgot that Dodger was under the bed and she didn't even hear when he came out.

She felt a hand touch her wrist softly, she turned around, Dodger was looking at her, sadness in his eyes. Hannah did everything she could to stop the tears from running down her face.

"I'm sorry" he said softly, she could tell he felt sorry for her, and that he truly was sorry, but she could also tell he felt awkward, he didn't know what to do in a situation like this, he was just a boy, boys didn't know how to comfort girls in grief.

She took a big breath and tried to smile "Its alright, I'm not that worried"

He looked at her curiously " your really not?"

She smiled "I'm not worried, or upset"

He stared at her, he knew she was lying. But what else was he suppose to do, he didn't know how to handle girls like this.

"Alright" he said. "Your father seems like a nice guy"

Hannah smiled "he is wonderful"

Dodger played with a loose string from the comforter on her bed "he seems to care about you a lot"

Hannah watched him carefully "He does"

Silence

"You know Jack, I think your lying"

He looked up at her and raised his eyebrows "What?"

She placed her hands on her hips "Don't even try to fool me, you lied when you said you hated parents and your glad you don't have any, but I know your lying, you wish you had parents"

He stood up then, face red "you have no clue what your talking about, I told you once that I don't want or need them and that's the truth, now stop being an idiot and move on"

"No, we are not moving on" Hannah said.

Jack closed in "What do you want from me?" he growled in her face

Hannah shuddered a bit but kept her stance "I want you to cave in, to admit that want them so bad that it hurts"

Now his ears went red " you always have to put her nose in other peoples business don't you? you think your so brave, chasing after Charlie in a dark alleyway, confronting me in your own home, well your not brave Hannah, your just an idiot, a stupid idiot. You think you have the power to confront me just because were in your home where your safe and can call your dad when you need him, well think again, I am able to break your neck before you can even call to him. I can hurt you and he won't know a thing until the next morning. You have no idea who you are dealing with Hannah"

Hannah started to shake, would he really hurt her if she went further? She decided to be an idiot and take the chance.

She stopped shaking and looked him straight in the eye "Oh I know exactly who I am dealing with. I know you are easily capable of hurting me or killing me, but I know you won't. You aren't that type of person, maybe no one else can see it, but I can. You would never hurt anyone. Why do you hide who you really are to other people? Man up and show your feelings for once!"

From the minute she stopped talking she knew she hit the mark. She saw his jaw clench, his fists were balled up. He pushed her against the wall, Hannah hit the back of the wall, hard. "you need to shutup… you have pissed me off to the top" he looked at her with hate in his eyes, but there was something else that she saw in his eyes that she couldn't describe. Hannah closed her eyes and waited for him to punch, maybe she was wrong, maybe he was going to hurt her.

After a few minutes when the punch didn't come, she felt him move away from her, she opened her eyes, He stood standing by the window, still looking angry, and his ears where red. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but instead he climbed out the window and ran into the night.

Hannah grabbed her heart, she was so overwhelmed by what just happened, but the thought of the man who murdered her mother came back and she fell on her bed and cried.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hey everyone! I am extremely sorry for the long wait, I have been wanting to write this chapter for so long but I have had lots of school work and no time to write . I hate to use that excuse cause I know how annoying it is to wait for a chapter to be posted. I am really excited to continue! Thank you all for being so patient, if you have any questions or complaints just PM me and I promise that I will answer them **__**and try to do my best to please you all **__**NOW ON WITH THE STORY!**_

…

Hannah was so upset last night that she cried herself to sleep and woke up the next morning sprawled on top of her comforter with a sore neck. She stretched her neck as she opened up her closet and looked over the dozens of dresses she had stored. She chose a white one with a violet ribbon. Her father and her didn't spend much time together so she wanted to look nice for lunch.

She looked at her corset and was really considering not wearing it today _'Who would notice, its not like anyone can see through your dress' _she thought. She shook her head at the thought, it wasn't a good idea. Last time she tried to wear a dress without her corset, Edna caught her and scolded her about being a proper lady. How ladies always have to have a tiny waist and need to wear their corsets whenever they go out.

Hannah glared at the corset. It was so unfair. She already had a tiny waist, so all it was doing was making it stuffy and harder to breathe. She stepped into it and pulled it up, "EDNA!" she called from her room.

She waited a few minutes, then scurried over to her door. She opened it a little bit and stuck her face out "Edna!" she yelled down the stairs. She smelled something delicious in the kitchen and her stomach rumbled, she didn't eat dinner last night so she was really hungry. In a few seconds Edna came to the stairs "What is it dear?" she asked.

"Could you help me tie my corset please?" Hannah asked.

"Of course!" Edna smiled, she walked up the stairs.

Hannah closed the door and sat on her bed, waiting for Edna to come. She looked out the window, it looked beautiful out today. The perfect weather to eat outside. Hannah started to feel excited, she always treasured those one on one moments with her father.

Edna opened the door to her room "Turn around dear" she said. Hannah complied. She felt Edna tug on the strings and gritted her teeth. "What do you plan to do today?" Edna asked.

"Father and I are going out for lunch today!" she exclaimed. Edna smiled behind her

"That will be nice, he has been so busy with work lately you two haven't had time to talk, and would you sit still please I am trying to help you here" she said sternly.

Hannah stopped moving "could you please not tie it so tight" she asked quietly. Edna didn't speak but Hannah could feel the strings getting looser. She sighed in relief

"Your father has met someone" Edna said.

Hannah turned her head "What?"

" Your father has met someone, he is bringing her here at some point so we can meet her" Edna said and patted Hannah's shoulder to let her know that she was done tying.

Hannah picked up her dress and stepped into it. "does he like her or something?" she asked.

Edna sighed and sat on the bed "I am not quite sure if he has feelings for her or not, but your Grandmother has sent him a letter telling him that he needs to be married"

Hannah finished tying the ribbon on her dress and proceeded to fix her hair "why does she want him to marry so badly?"

"She thinks that you need a more womanly touch in your manners and also believes that a man or women should not be alone for the rest of their lives" she said.

Hannah snorted 'That's just dumb, first off I don't need a womanly touch in my manner, my manners are fine! Second, if father doesn't want to marry right away then he doesn't have too. He loved my mother and is not ready to marry someone else"

Edna looked at her "You are completely right about everything dear" she said.

"and what if I do need a womanly touch in my manners! Which I don't need, but if I did I have you to teach me right?" Hannah ranted.

Edna hesitated before she spoke "Your grandmother believes that I am not good enough to help you, that I am not like a mother and wants someone else to take my place"

Hannah stared at her wide-eyed. How could this happen. She shook her head. No, father would never let it happen.

"But Edna, your part of our family, you can't just leave" Hannah said softly, tears threatening to spill on her cheeks

Edna placed a hand on her cheek "I will still come sometimes, but I won't be living with you guys for awhile, with the new women here, we need to see if she is capable to run the house"

Hannah glared and pulled away from her hand "No, you're wrong, Father would never let that happen" she said.

Edna just looked at her sadly. Her eyes telling Hannah that there was nothing her father could do

"What if he didn't do it? What would happen?" Hannah asked.

"Then your grandmother would send someone for you and you will live with her"

Hannah stared at her as Edna walked to the door "Come down for breakfast" she said.

Hannah ignored her "Write Grandmother back and tell her to shove her pointy little head up her big ass!" she said loudly.

Edna just stared, the tips of her mouth almost turning upwards "That will sure help with the womanly manners" she said and closed the door.

Hannah placed her head in her hands, this was so unfair. Why did Edna have to leave. Hannah glared at the window. If her family wasn't going to stick up from each other, then she was. Hannah stomped over to her dresser and grabbed a piece of paper from the drawer. She so badly wanted to write down everything she was feeling down on the paper. Hannah took a big breath, in order to win this fight, she had to act calm and polite, no acting crazy. Right when she wrote the first letter she heared her name being called.

"Hannah!" it sounded like her father.

She rushed down the stairs to find her father at the front door waiting. He looked slightly upset, but the moment he saw Hannah he looked even more distressed "You look lovely today" he said.

Hannah slightly smiled "Its for lunch today, I wanted to look nice" she said. He looked uncomfortable and Hannah knew what he was going to say before he said it.

"We can't go out for lunch today" he said. Hannah dropped her hands to her sides "Why?" she asked.

He didn't look at her "I met someone knew a few days ago, I am sure Edna told you all about it, I am bringing her here to tour the house and we are going out for dinner with her tonight"

Hannah glared at him "You don't seem too upset about all of this" she said coldly

"It's the way it is, come home at 5:00" he said and walked briskly out the door.

Hannah didn't move, she wanted to chase after him and smack some sense into him. He was giving up his daughter and Edna, just to hang out with some woman. Hannah went to the kitchen to have her breakfast. She didn't talk to Edna though, she didn't want to talk to anyone in the family.

When she was done, she left and headed to Marie's house. She walked a little slower than usual. How could her father do this, he was a grown man, he shouldn't be taking orders from his old little mother.

Hannah sighed and looked towards a post where a sign caught her eye. On it was a picture of a man, a very scruffy looking man, he looked big and mean. Underneath his picture was posted **"Wanted" **

In her anger, Hannah was about to rip the sign off the post and tear it in a million pieces, but instead she decided not to, the police needed to catch this man.

She picked up her pace the rest of the way to Marie's and rang the doorbell. The door opened up a crack and Hannah could see a bit of Marie's head peeking out. "Open the door or I will force my way in" Hannah told her.

Marie opened it up the rest of the way and yawned, she had curlers in her hair and was still in her night gown. Hannah stared at her "why were you sleeping so late?"

Marie shrugged "I stayed up a little late reading, I was at a good part in my book" she opened up the door the rest of the way and let Hannah in.

"Can we go to the park today instead, I need to talk to you about something"

Marie was now awake and listening. "Lets go up to my room, I will get dressed and the we can but together a picnic basket for the park"

Hannah followed Marie upstairs. Marie went to her mirror to take the curlers out of her hair, while Hannah sorted through her dresses, she came across a magnificent looking dress. The material was silk and it was dark red. Hannah couldn't even begin to describe what it looked like, she picked it up and held it out "Where did you get this?" she asked.

Marie turned and grinned "Do you like it? It is for the ball that is happening in a few weeks"

Hannah mentally smacked herself in the head, how could she forget about the ball, she still needed a dress.

"This colour would look great with your hair" Hannah exclaimed. Marie blushed "I know, I love it"

Hannah put the dress back in the closet and pulled out a light green dress for Marie "Put this on" she said and threw the dress at Marie.

"Nice choice" she said, as she looked over the dress.

As Hannah was tying up Marie's corset, she could feel Marie smile "What are you smiling at?" Hannah asked,

"You know, Hugh might be at the ball" Marie said and giggled.

Hannah rolled her eyes "Yeah and Charlie defiantly won't"

Marie turned around and tried to smack Hannah in the head. Hannah laughed " You know its true"

Marie stuck her tongue out and turned around, Hannah continued to tie her corset, snickering every so often

"Oh shut up" Marie said.

…

Marie and Hannah sat in the grass, their picnic basket beside them. Hannah told Marie everything, Edna leaving, her father marrying, even her father ditching her at lunch.

"I was wondering why you were wearing your favorite dress" Marie said and grabbed an apple from the basket.

"Its so unfair" Hannah said. Marie looked at her "I don't want you to leave" she said.

"I most likely won't go but still, my grandmother is bossing us around like were her slaves, I have fine manners! And Edna is part of our family, she can't leave!"

Marie sighed "Your grandmother clearly has a few issues, maybe you should write her a note"

"I already started it" Hannah grumbled, she was going to fix this problem. "Pass me a sandwich"

Marie threw a sandwich in her direction and kept looking around the park

Hannah looked at her curiously "Who are you looking for?" she asked.

Hannah took one look at Marie's face and gasped "Marie, you dirty little sneak" Hannah snickered "You like him! You like him!"

Marie slapped her "I do not, just making sure my handkerchief doesn't get stolen"

Hannah laughed "I can't believe it Marie"

Marie glared at her

"Hello girls"

Marie and Hannah turned their heads and saw Grace and Helen walking over to them, they were accompanied by Marie and Hannah's other friends Lucy and Eleanor, there was another girl with them that they did not recognize.

Lucy and Eleanor ran up and hugged them both. They took a seat next to them. Lucy has shoulder length blonde hair, she was small and had big brown eyes, Eleanor was the opposite, she was tall and very slim with long dark hair, she had a nice smile.

Grace and Helen joined them "Marie and Hannah, this is Jane"

Jane was tall and skinny, her hair hit her waist and a frown was plastered on her hard face, she looked at Hannah "So this is the girl that chased after the pickpocket boy" she said. She had an accent.

Hannah stared at her "its nice to meet you too Jane"

Jane shook her head and sat down "you probably looked very dumb"

Hannah ignored her comment. Lucy and Eleanor rolled their eyes as Marie and Hannah, showing them that they had to deal with her for most of the day.

Hannah noticed that Marie was still casually looked around the park, Hannah caught her eye _"Stop looking for him"_ she mouthed. Marie glared at her.

Grace and Helen laughed and sat next to Jane "Jane here is new and is now the richest girl in town, she has over 70 dresses"

Marie stared at her wide eyed. Jane looked pleased "I am, and to correct you it's over 85" she said. "I use to live in a big mansion, but we moved because my mother wanted to travel, we still own it though, and the house here too. The first chance I get though I am moving back, the houses here a too small for me and the dresses are not as nice" she continued

"So?" Hannah exclaimed.

Jane glared at her "What do you mean so?"

"I mean that why does it matter that you have over 85 dresses or 50 houses, personally that would be too much for me, I would have a heart attack, but you probably have over 10 maids to help sort you out right?"

Lucy tried not to laugh but that caused her to snort. She quickly covered her mouth.

Jane looked livid. She stood up as if to challenge Hannah, who in turn stayed seated on the ground "As a matter of fact I am from France-"

"So if everyone in France as rude as you? Or did we just get lucky?" Hannah said cutting her off. Grace and Helen gasped. Marie stared at Hannah wide eyed and Eleanor and Lucy were trying not to laugh.

Jane stared at Hannah with pure rage "If this is how I am going to be treated here then goodbye! I was never treated like this in France" She turned and stomped off.

Grace glared at Hannah and pulled Helen's wrist, hoisting her on her feet. They both chased after Jane.

Not able to hold in their laughter any longer, Lucy and Eleanor burst out laughing. Marie stared at Hannah "That was brilliant" she said.

"Someone needs to put her in her place" Hannah said and smiled.

…..

A few hours later Hannah and her three friends were still sitting in the park talking.

Eleanor leaned forward "cute boys straight ahead" she said.

They all turned to find 3 boys standing a few feet away, they kept glancing over at the 4 girls. Lucy giggled

"The one in the middle looks really sweet" she said and glanced over to a blonde hair boy.

Hannah looked at the boy Lucy was watching. She was right, he was pretty cute _"Not as cute as Jack though"_ she suddenly thought.

"Whoa" Hannah gasped and slapped her self in the head. What was she thinking, he was a pickpocket, a thief.

"Han are you alright?" Marie asked.

"Just fine" she replied. Marie raised an eyebrow.

Eleanor and Lucy didn't seem to notice what was happening as they were still making flirty smiles towards the boys.

"Would you guys like to see the dress that I have decided to wear to the ball next week?" Lucy asked suddenly.

Marie and Eleanor perked up

"Yeah! I want to see it" Marie said and stood up from her spot. Lucy giggled and got to her feet. She brushed the grass off her dress "Let's go then" she said.

"Actually I have to go , we have a visitor tonight and my father wants me to meet her" Hannah said.

Marie gave her a sad look. Eleanor and Lucy frowned

"oh no, I wish you could come" Lucy said. Hannah sighed "Same, but I can't"

She stood up and also brushed the dirt off her dress "I will see your dress another time"

Lucy and Eleanor kissed her cheeks "alright" Eleanor said. "We will see you soon then right?"

"Right!" Hannah called out and she waved to Marie as she walked away.

Hannah turned down a busy street. It was starting to get a little dark so it made sense that it was busy. It was the time when people liked to go out for dinner and for parties. She was meeting her father and the new woman he had met at a restaurant downtown.

She could see the sign of the restaurant in the distance and hoped that her father was there already so she wouldn't have to wait.

She walked to the front of the restaurant where a man was writing something down. She coughed "Excuse me" she said.

The man looked up warily "What can I do for you miss?" he asked.

"I was just looking for my father, his name is Alan Roberts" she said.

"Oh, you must be Miss Hannah, right this way" he said and instead of walking her inside, he went around to the side of the building where the outdoor seats were. Hannah was surprised. These seats were a lot of money. It must be a really special occasion to sit outside.

Hannah turned the corner to find her father sitting next to a blonde women. Hannah sighed and walked up to them.

It took them a few seconds to notice her.

"Hannah dear! Come sit down!" her father said.

Hannah sat across from them and stared at the women. She wore a tight red dress and had a nice oval face. Her eyes were big and light blue.

The lady stared right back, but she didn't say anything. Mr. Roberts coughed "Hannah, isn't there something you would like to say"

Hannah didn't say anything for a few seconds, but when she saw the pleading look on her father's face, she changed her mind.

"it's a pleasure to meet you" she said.

The lady smiled. It looked forced "The pleasure is all mine" she said. Her voice was high.

Mr. Roberts coughed awkwardly "Hannah this is Vivian, she will be staying with us for a while"

"Your father has told me so much about you" Vivian said and touched her fathers arm. Hannah almost gagged.

"I'm afraid that I haven't heard much about you" She replied.

Vivian stared for a few minutes "oh? Well this is very recent" she said.

"Yes" Hannah replied.

Suddenly the waiter brought out plates of food.

"I hope you don't mind that we ordered without you, we ordered your favorite dish though" her father said.

"That's alright" Hannah said, and dug in. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she saw all the food.

Vivian and her father started a conversation that didn't include Hannah. She didn't mind, she wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.

She looked around, there was a fence that was covered in vines and purple flowers that blocked off the restaurant from downtown. She looked over the fence to look at the people walking in the street. Her mouth opened slightly when she saw a top hat walking down the street.

Not knowing why, her heartbeat slightly increased, as she saw him walk around a grown man. When the man turned around to talk to a woman. He quickly pulled out the poor man's wallet at the back of his coat pocket, and casually walked away, like nothing ever happened.

Suddenly he turned and caught Hannah gaping at him from her seat. She blushed when he smirked and winked at her. She glared and shook her head at him.

When he caught sight of Vivian, he smirked again and gave Hannah a naughty look. She raised her fist at him.

"Hannah what on earth are you doing?" Mr. Roberts asked. Hannah turned to her father and Vivian, who was giving her a strange look.

She quickly stuck her fist in her lap "nothing" she replied. Mr. Roberts shook his head and Vivian still gave her a strange look. When they finally looked away, Hannah glanced to where Dodger was standing, he grinned and walked away.

Hannah sighed and went back to her food. Once again ignoring her father and his new wife.

….

When they got home, Hannah waited a few minutes and was shocked that Edna hadn't come running yet. When she turned and saw her father and Vivian walk through the door, Hannah frowned. Edna wasn't coming home for a while.

Without saying goodnight, Hannah walked straight up to her room. When she opened her door, she gasped at what she found lying on her bed. She walked up and laying on her bed was the most gorgeous dress she has ever seen. Words couldn't even begin to describe how beautiful it was. She reached out to touch it. The material was soft and silky.

"Do you like it?"

Hannah spun around, Vivian was standing in the doorway.

"I-I" she couldn't find the words to describe what she was feeling.

Vivan grinned "isn't it gorgeous? I thought you would like it. Came all the way from France"

"Thank you" Hannah whispered, suddenly guilty about the way she treated Vivian.

"This really wasn't necessary" Hannah said.

Vivian hung up the dress in the closet " of course it was necessary, you need something to wear to the ball and I want us to get along" she said.

"Thank you" Hannah said again and waited for Vivian to leave her room so she could get undressed.

Vivian walked gracefully to the door, "Goodnight, I can help you get dressed for the ball" then she closed the door.

Hannah sighed and undressed. As she climbed into bed she wondered what the next few weeks with Vivian would bring her.

…...

_**Sorry, that was a terrible ending :/ But there we go! I am already working on the next chapter for you guys! **_


	6. Chapter 6

Hannah gritted her teeth when she felt another hard tug on the strings. It was finally the night of the ball. Vivan was helping Hannah get ready, and was pulling the strings on her corset a little too tightly. Hannah gasped "could you loosen it just a little bit" she asked.

Vivian sighed "Why?"

"It's just hard to breath" Hannah said.

"Every woman has to go through it, and every woman has to deal with it" Vivan said as she continued pulling on the strings.

Hannah kept her mouth shut, but she mentally punched Vivian in the face. When she finally finished pulling on the last string, Hannah turned to look in the mirror. She stared at herself in awe. Her hair was pulled up, with a few stray curls falling on her face. Her makeup was perfect as well as her dress. She looked beautiful.

"wow" Hannah said. Vivian grinned behind her.

Hannah walked over to her dresser and took out her diamond necklace. Vivian didn't say anything as Hannah put on the necklace which rested just below her collar bone. Vivian grabbed her purse from the bed and opened the door.

"Its time to go, your father won't be coming with us" Vivian stated. Hannah turned around 'Why not?"

"He has another town meeting to go to, so its just us tonight" Vivian sighed. "Let's go, the carriage is waiting"

Hannah followed Vivian down the stairs, being careful not to trip and ruin her dress. They put on their shawls before they stepped outside to the carriage that was waiting.

….

Hannah started to feel nervous the moment the carriage turned the corner and she caught sight of all the people. She wiggled a little to see if she could loosen her dress a little. It was getting hard to breathe.

Vivian must of noticed her labored breathing "don't worry you look beautiful" she said. Hannah nodded and looked out the window, not mentioning the real reason of why she couldn't breathe easily. When the carriage stopped, Hannah glanced out the window to see couples walking up to the building, all the gorgeous dresses suddenly made her feel slightly insecure about how she looked.

Vivian's voice snapped her out of her thoughts "Let's go, we have an entrance to make" she said. Hannah took another deep breath and stepped outside the carriage. She and Vivian made their way up the sidewalk towards the building.

Hannah glanced at the people walking around her. Hoping to see if Marie or at least Eleanor has arrived yet.

The building was filled with beautiful colours. Hannah turned to find Vivian already gone and talking to a group of people. Hannah stared at her, shocked that she would ditch her so quickly, then looked around the room to see if she could spot anyone she knew.

She awkwardly walked toward the drink stand and went to grab herself a cup of red something that was sitting in a large bowl. She blushed but ignored the men that stared at her as she passed.

As she reached out to grab a cup, another hand shot out and handed it to her. "Here you are miss" a tall man with hazel eyes smiled. "Thank you" Hannah whispered, not really wanting to get into a conversation with this man. Suddenly she caught a glimpse of Eleanor and Lucy making her way through the crowd. Hannah quickly set her drink down on the table.

"Thank you, it was very nice to meet you" she quickly curtsied to the man and left him standing by the drink table, confused as to why she had left him so fast.

Hannah quickly tried to catch up with Eleanor and Lucy, who she was starting to lose in the crowd. She walked so fast that she wasn't watching where she was going and with a loud bang somehow ended up on the floor.

Hannah refused to look up as she felt 200 pairs of eyes turn towards where she lay on the dirty floor. Hannah still didn't look up, even when she heard footsteps walking towards her, or even when the young man reached his hand out to her.

Hannah hesitantly took his hand, not wanting to face everyone who saw her fall. Hannah stood up, blushing, not looking the man who helped her up, in the face.

"Alright people, the show is over, get back to your business!" she heard a women call out.

Hannah was led away from the floor where the people began to dance. Only when she was away from the staring eyes did she finally look up to thank her rescuer "Thank y—Hugh!" she gasped.

Hugh stared back at her grinning "Why hello Hannah, such a pleasant surprise to see you"

"I thought you were at your grandmothers? Why didn't you write to me?" she stated. In all honesty, she didn't care if he wrote to her or not, she was just confused why he lied to her.

Hugh sighed "Unfortunately my grandmother passed away mere days after I got there, I didn't know how to tell you in a letter so I didn't bother"

Guilt flooded through Hannah and she gently touched his arm "I am really sorry to hear that, I hope that you are well" she said.

Hugh shrugged "not really that big of a deal, I wasn't very close with her so I'm wasn't mourning too long"

Just as Hannah opened her mouth to speak, someone grabbed her shoulder and roughly turned her around.

"Marie!" Hannah cried out and hugged her. Hannah was shocked that this was her best friend in front of her. Marie had always been very beautiful and she never thought that it was possible for Marie to look even more beautiful than she did tonight. "Marie you look wonderful!" Hannah said.

Marie giggled "I would say the same for you too, I didn't recognize you at first until you caused that scene in the middle of the dance floor"

Hannah turned red and she flicked Marie's nose. She shrieked and covered her face "I will get you for that Hannah" she threatened. Hannah grinned "I will take my chances Marie" she said.

Marie curtsied to Hugh "It is very nice to see you again" she said. Hugh bowed "It is very nice indeed, you certainly look lovely tonight, both of you" he smiled, causing them both to blush.

Suddenly Eleanor rushed over to them "You guys look at Lucy, look who she is dancing with" she panted.

The four of them looked towards the dance floor and spotted Lucy in a light purple dress. She was smiling and laughing as a blonde boy twirled her around.

Hannah gasped "Is that they boy we saw in the park a few weeks ago?"

Eleanor nodded hurriedly "the one that she kept checking out? Yep, The only reason they are dancing out there in the first place is because I introduced them, so if they get married and have the cutest little babies in the future you can all thank me" she said

Hannah laughed out loud and continued to watch Lucy dance. Hannah sighed, they really looked cute together.

Suddenly a tall man with tan skin and dark eyes walked up. The three girls gasped at the sight of him, he was really handsome.

The man bowed his head and looked at Marie "May I have this dance?" he asked and held out his hand. Marie's ears turned red but was speechless. Hannah sighed and kicked her foot.

"Oww—I mean, yes, I would love to dance with you" she said and grabbed his hand. As they walked to the dance floor, she quickly glanced excitedly back at Hannah.

Eleanor squealed as the next song started to play "This is my favourite waltz! I'm going to go find someone to dance with" she said and with that she went off, Leaving Hugh and Hannah together in silence.

Hannah tried not to look at him when she felt him looking at her "Hannah may I have this dance?" he asked

Hannah smiled at him and took his hand

She watched the dancers around them as Hugh twirled her around. She spotted Eleanor talking amiably to her partner and Marie giggling nervously as her own partner whispered something in her ear. Hannah faced Hugh to find him staring at her. "What is it?" she asked.

"You look amazing" he said. Hannah smiled "Thank you" she said.

They danced for a couple of minutes when Hannah started panting

"is something wrong?" Hugh asked. Hannah fanned herself with her hand "I'm just feeling a little light headed that's all" she said.

"Do you need to sit down?" he asked. She nodded her head "no its just a little hot in here, I'm just going to step outside for a little bit" she said,

"I will come with you" he said, and led her out the front door and out into the garden.

The cool air at night felt amazing on her skin, but it was still hard for her to breathe. She looked out into the street, only focusing on catching her breath. She didn't even notice when Hugh cleared his throat.

"So Hannah, since we are out here alone, I was hoping on asking you something" he said.

Hannah glanced towards him, not really paying attention "and what is that?" she said, gasping once again for air.

Hugh didn't seem to notice her breathing patterns and kept on talking "Well like I told you before, you look absolutely stunning tonight, and I know we haven't known each other very long but the moment I first laid eyes on you I—"

"This sounds a lot like a proposal" Hannah chuckled. Hugh looked slightly offended, as if had been planning this speech for a while "I assure you, it's not a proposal" he said.

"Then just say what you want to say" Hannah said, getting slightly impatient, and wanting to go the bathroom to loosen her dress.

Hugh frowned "Well I was only hoping that we could starting-well, like seeing each other" he said.

Hannah turned to him "You mean like dating?"

Hugh nodded.

Hannah sighed "look Hugh I really like you, and your handsome and all but I can't"

Hugh frowned "Why not?"

"I just can't, It wouldn't feel right seeing you, and we haven't even been on a proper date yet" she said.

Hugh was beginning to look annoyed "We've known each other well enough, its not like I'm a complete stranger or anything" he said.

Hannah narrowed her eyes "I don't care if we know each other well enough, I don't like you that way"

Hugh stepped closer "But you said so yourself, Only a few minutes ago you said you really liked me and that I'm handsome"

Hannah sighed, realizing her mistake "It's just not going to work out" she said.

Hugh gabbed her hand "I think we can make it work, I feel something every time I'm near you, and I know you do too, or you wouldn't of danced with me"

Hannah opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get even one word out, Hugh took that moment to kiss her.

Hannah quickly pushed him away "Why won't you listen to me, I told you no. Kissing me isn't going to change that"

A flash of anger crossed over Hugh's face "Fine if you feel that way, then I won't need to see you anymore, anyway there are much better and more beautiful girls inside then you. Goodbye"

He stalked off into the building, leaving Hannah standing there gasping. Maybe his words hurt her a little, but she couldn't concentrate on anything at the moment, her vision was getting blurry.

"Hugh" she gasped out, hoping he will come back. She tried to walk back to the party but she was quickly losing consciousness. She felt herself slowly falling, and the last thing she saw before it went black were two pairs of shoes rushing towards her.

….

Hannah suddenly jolted awake coughing and gasping for air. She could see figures around her but couldn't make them out. Her vision was still a little blurry. She heard two different voices around her.

"Woah, it worked" the first male voice said.

"I told you it would work you idiot" the second male said in an annoying tone.

"Who are you?" she croaked, trying to figure out what happened and who these two boys were. She looked down at herself and saw that she was only in her white under dress. She began to panic.

"Easy there Hannah" the second male said, it sounded oddly familiar.

"Jack?" She said. Her vision was finally becoming clear.

She saw him smile cheekily "The one and only"

She looked around at the scene, she was lying on the ground with Jack and Charlie crouched beside her. "What happened? And where am I?" She asked. The back of her heard was throbbing.

"Well you happen to be in the exact same spot as your were when you passed out, which happens to be outside the building where you were having your little party with all your rich friends" he said.

Hannah groaned and held her head "don't be a smart ass" she said, causing him to grin.

"Hannah!" they heard, and could hear footsteps running closer towards them.

"Oi Dodge, we should get out of here before anyone sees us with her in this state" said Charlie.

Hannah knew he was right, if anyone found them surrounding her while she was in her underwear. That person would get the wrong idea and have Jack and Charlie arrested.

Jack sighed,he didn't want to leave Hannah lying there, but if they got caught they would all be in trouble.

Suddenly Marie turned the corner. They all sighed in relief. She ran toward them and fell on the ground next to Hannah "Are you alright! What happened? Where's Hugh?"

Jack stood up and stepped away from the two "Charlie and I saw her pass out right after her little boyfriend left her" he said with venom in his voice.

"If Dodger here didn't rip off her undergarment thing, she would have been dead for sure" Charlie said, looking at Marie. Hannah finally noticed her ripped dress and corset that was thrown to the side of the street.

Marie began to cry "I knew when Hugh came inside alone that something was wrong, what did he do to you?"

"He didn't really do anything—"

"He kissed her" finished Dodger, who was glaring at the entrance to the building

Hannah glared at him, how much did he see or hear of Hugh and her encounter. Marie started at both of them.

"other than that, he didn't do anything" Hannah said quickly. "My corset must have just been a little too tight"

"A little tight? That thing almost killed you" stated Charlie, who was standing next to Jack, though he was still quietly watching Marie.

"I can't believe that jerk just left you there, what did he say to you? What happened between you two" Marie exclaimed, anger seething on her face. Hannah glanced toward the two boys. Jack was standing there with his arms crossed and was still staring at the entrance of the party.

"I don't want to talk about it Marie" Hannah mumbled. Marie sighed "alright, let's get you home then. With Jane bragging about her looks and Grace trying to get me together with tall, dark and handsome, who by the way is a complete airhead, I wasn't really having fun anyway"

Hannah nodded "I should really tell Vivian that I am going"

"Don't worry I will tell her, I'm just going to get your shawl and I will be right back" Marie said and hurried back into the building.

Hannah immediately turned on Jack "How long did were you listening to Hugh and I?" she stated.

Jack glared "So that's your boyfriends name, I was thinking it was something more along the lines of asshole, or asswipe, you know something around that area"

"It wasn't his fault, He didn't know I was going to pass out" she bit back.

"Didn't know? Jesus I could hear you weezing from across the street, he must either be deaf or too worried about your relationship to bother taking care of you"

Hannah opened her mouth to shout an insult at him when suddenly Marie appeared with her shawl and walked over to pick up the ripped dress and corset

"Vivian seems like the type of person who will freak if she sees the dress ripped, no matter what the excuse, we will take it home and I can sew it up" she said.

"Do you need help standing up?" Marie asked. Hannah quickly shook her head and tried to stand on her feet, she immediately felt dizzy and started to tip over.

Marie caught her from falling. "You are not able to walk on your own" she said. Hannah shook her head "No really you guys I'm fine, its just going to take a few minutes"

Jack sighed and scooped her up in his arms "How about, we don't wait any longer for someone to catch us and I will just carry you home"

Hannah tried to protest but he already began walking in the direction of her home.

"So who is tall, dark and handsome?" Hannah heard Charlie say, and turned her head to find Marie and Charlie trailing behind them.

"Does Charlie like Marie" Hannah said quietly to Dodger. He grunted "Not sure, why don't you ask him"

"I think you know the answer" Hannah said. "Not really my place to tell" he said, not looking at her.

Hannah sighed. "How much did you hear?" she asked.

"I heard enough" he said.

"Why can't you just give me a straight up answer?"

"what is the fun in that?"

She slapped his arm "You are so difficult" she said.

"That's what makes all the ladies want me" he smirked.

She snorted "In your dreams"

They were silent. "Why do you care so much?" she asked.

He laughed "who said I cared, maybe I just like to amuse myself by watching you embarrass yourself"

Hannah stared at him "do you mean that?"

"Maybe"

She turned away from him. She tried to get out of his grasp, but he held on tighter

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I want to walk"

"Not a chance princess"

"I don't want you to carry me"

"You don't seem to have a choice in that matter"

"I never seem to have a choice in a any matter"

"That's right"

Hannah looked back at Charlie and Marie, they were walking close together and were whispering.

"you know some people consider it impolite to eavesdrop" Jack said.

Hannah laughed "your one to talk"

Jack smiled "people don't expect me to be polite, so I'm good"

"But you are polite"

He didn't answer her. When they finally reached her house, he carefully set her down. They watched Marie and Charlie say goodbye and Marie stood at the end of her steps.

"I really appreciate what you did for me" Hannah said.

"No problem" he said.

"How did you even know?" she asked curiously

"When you grow up in a place where I have lived, stuff like that happens all the time"

Hannah looked at him, his handsome features might be strong and emotionless, but she could see the slightest look in his eyes, that showed her that there was some deep sadness beneath all that hate and crime, beneath his shield there was something that no one knew. Not Charlie, not even Fagin.

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. She watched and tried not to laugh as his chin all the way to his ears turned red.

"Thank you" she said and turned away from him. Marie helped her up the stairs and they watched as the two boys disappeared around the corner.

Suddenly remebering Hannah's hand flew to her throat, to her relief she felt the diamond necklace still resting beneath her collar bone. They had the perfect opportunity to take it and sell it for money, but they left it on her neck. Hannah wondered why.

Marie ended up sleeping over, and as she was sewing Hannah's dress and talking about the nights events, Hannah couldn't help but look out the window and onto the street where Jack and Charlie just walked away minutes ago, wondering why her lips still tingled.


End file.
